


Hard Reset Book 2

by New_Elysia



Series: Hard Reset [2]
Category: The Chronicles Of Vladimir Tod - Zac Brewer, The Slayer Chronicles - Zac Brewer
Genre: AU, Catskills, Gen, Reset au, Slayers, Vampires, and i'm still fucking with the time line and i don't care!, i actually did quite a bit of research for this, minor vampire death, off screen death by mountian lion, some of which might look shady as fuck out of proper context, we don't know them so it's no big deal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 19:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 27,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10445301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/New_Elysia/pseuds/New_Elysia
Summary: Off to the CatSkills we go!





	1. Chapter 1

Vlad’s eyes opened wide and he took in a deep breath, a scream caught in his throat. The young Pravus pushed himself up, Onyx eyes wide. Pain burned in his chest, like something had been forced through the bone and tissue. Vlad immediately reached up placed a hand over his chest.

With all the pain he felt, the boy expected to see blood and something, I knife or a stake, protruding from his pale chest. But… there was nothing… no blood or sharp implement imbedded in his body. Just the fading sensation of horrible pain. Vlad felt his heart racing against his chest as his mind slowly processed the truth.

It was just a dream, a terrible and vivid dream. He was just fine, no one was in his room. Vlad looked around the darkened space, no one that he could see. The young Pravus wet his lips, waiting for someone to come out of the shadows and attack him.

But again, there was nothing, just the quite of his room. Vlad laid back down, Onyx eyes staring up at the dark ceiling. The boy contemplated the nightmare in his head, the only thing he’d heard were the words ‘for you Cecile’ the young Pravus ran those words through his head. Cécile, that name sounded familiar. Like he’d heard it before.

Vlad rolled out of bed and walked over to his desk, his hand reached out and found the lamp. It turned on with a soft click and Vlad sat down in his desk chair. On the desk sat his journal, the one he’d found while searching his old home. The one that had brought back memories of a life lived once.

He reached down and flipped through the pages, trying to find anything related to that name. He stopped at a later entry, one that looked like it was from after graduation. Cécile was Joss’ sister, his little sister. Vlad bit his lip, recalling Joss being henry’s cousin.

Flipping back, he landed in the more tattered pages of the journal. The ones he’d taken out of his notebook. His eyes landed on a series of short entries from late march of his freshman year.

_ March 27th _

_ Joss is the slayer! Probably the same slayer Otis warned me about in his Letter. I don’t know what to do, he doesn’t seem to know I’m the town’s vampire. It’s possible that he might never notice and pass on through, finishing out the school year and just leave. _

__

_ March 29th _

_ I’ve been thinking lately. D’Ablo’s still alive. I saw him the other night when I followed the vampire named Jasik to Stokerton. Maybe… just maybe… I can trick Joss into going after D’Ablo. He claimed he’s an experienced slayer, maybe he can kill D’Ablo.  _

_ Or…D’Ablo would kill him. That’s the part that scares me so much, that joss might not be able to kill D’Ablo. _

_ April 2nd _

_ I think Joss believed me, we’re gonna try and work out a plan before heading to Stokerton. I hope this doesn’t end badly. _

The sensation of pain returned, though not as strong as before. He’d been staked, by a slayer. A slayer hired by D’Ablo. Vlad licked is lips, his mouth becoming dry. He wondered if, since things had gone differently, if Joss was even coming to Bathery. Or if, without D’Ablo hiring him, Joss would stay out of the small town.

There didn’t seem to be anything to worry about, nothing that seemed dangerous or live threatening. As Vlad flipped the book closed, a page caught his attention. There was a double digit number written in the text.

Vlad flipped back through, stopping on the entry. Another dated after high school, Vlad’s onyx eyes widened as his mind properly processed the entry and memories trickled their way back in. Joss had claimed to killing twenty five vampires during the summer right before his freshmen year. While at a training camp in New York. Vlad felt his stomach drop, sure he changed things for him and Stokerton, but how likely was it that he’d managed to change things for those vampires. Were they still in danger?

Summer wasn’t for another three weeks. Vlad ran a hand through his raven black hair, he couldn’t leave two dozen people to die. No, he’d have to do something. But what? New York was a long ways off, and he doubted Nelly would be ok with Vlad running off on his own.

But then again, he might not have to go alone. He recalled atleast one vampire who’d be more than willing to help Vlad with anything. And another who’d taken an intrest in his memories. Vlad took in a deep breath, his decision was made. He’d spend a few weeks out in New York, hopefully convincing Joss that becoming a slayer was a bad idea and getting as many vampires out of harm’s way as possible.

 

_**see[profile ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/New_Elysia/profile)for adopted Head Canons from Aroastronaut** _

 


	2. Chapter 2

D’Ablo looked at the paper that had just been handed to him and then at the man who’d handed it over. His eyes moved back and forth several times before he got a slightly baffled and pissed off expression on his face “You do realize…” D’Ablo took another look at the paper “these drafts are blank, right?”

The vampire awaited a reply, only the have his attention grabbed by another “D’Ablo” Steel grey eyes turned to spy a familiar teenaged boy jogging down the hallway at him. “Vladimir.” He said, they looked at the boy. Slightly curious as to what he wanted “what are you doing here?” the council president looked at his watch, it was well past eight pm. “should you be at home?” D’Ablo was sure the kid had school tomorrow? Or was tomorrow Saturday? He’d have to check the calendar in his office later, just to make sure. Days seemed lost to him sometimes.

“I need to talk with you.” Vlad said, “Now?” D’Ablo asked “if you have the time, it’s important.” D’Ablo glanced back at the other vampire and then shoved the paper work back to him, sending the man a telepathic message to get the proper reports before the night’s end. “Alright, shall we?” he gestured for Vlad to follow after him.

Vlad walked quickly, attempting to keep up with the council president. The young Pravus cursed his small stature, hopefully he’d gain a few inches over the next few years.

“What do you want?” D’Ablo asked, it was normal for vampires to try and single him out and make requests. Some hoping to bypass the rest of the council, others wishing to gain favor. The vampire didn’t leave Tomas’ son out of that list, not even for a moment.

“I’ve recovered some of my memories.” Vlad said, D’Ablo looked down, not bothering to hide the look of curiosity on his face “oh, what of?” Vlad took in a deep breath “I was staked my freshman year.” Vlad said, he saw a glint of something in D’Ablo’s steel grey eyes. Doubt? Intrigue? Or maybe some odd form of Sympathy? Though, the boy doubted the last one.

“Really? How much do you recall?” the vampire inquired “almost all of it, I know their name and when it happened in that timeline.” Vlad said, the boy then looked up at the council president “he was hired by you.” Vlad said, D’Ablo scoffed “me?” he asked, almost looking offended at the mere possibility of it. “Why would I hire a slayer, little one?” he leaned down, a smirk on his face.

“To see if I was invincible.” Vlad saw the trace of amusement leave the vampire. D’Ablo seemed to be studying Vlad before he spoke

“And I didn’t just bother with running you through myself?” he asked, head cocked to the side “it would have been much more pleasing, if I truly despised you…”

Vlad wet his lips “not if you considered you might face charges for killing me, if I did die.” Vlad reminded him, although, what did he know. It was entirely possibly D’Ablo could have killed him and gotten off Scott free. “You hired Joss to stake me, it’s a weird loophole in the law. You can’t kill me or hire another vampire to kill me, but you can hire a slayer.”

D’Ablo chuckled “oh yes, I am well aware of that loophole.” He said, and he’d used it before. It wasn’t the most honorable thing to do, sure. But it was quite easy to pay a slayer a couple thousand dollars and lead them to a political enemy or someone who’d tried to kill D’Ablo in the past.

“If joss killed me, you’d have your revenge for me shooting you with a Lucis, if I survived, you had proof that I’m the Pravus.” Vlad saw D’Ablo’s eyes light up “and it seems I did” he smirked, Vlad pursed his lips, then glared. It wasn’t like he’d hadn’t had this conversation with D’Ablo before

It had happened several times since March. Vlad realized D’Ablo had been fixated on the prophecy before he’d located Vlad. Although, it didn’t seem he knew about the ritual, atleast not yet.

“So, what do you plan to do?” D’Ablo asked, Vlad ran a hand through his hair and looked around him at the now empty hallway. They’d been walking for a bit it seemed. “I’m gonna try and stop Joss from becoming a slayer.” D’Ablo looked curious “I see, so shall I get a few men to track him down and kill him?” D’Ablo questioned, Vlad’s onyx eyes widened.

“What? No!” he snapped “And why not?” D’Ablo questioned “he wouldn’t be a slayer, now would he?” the council president smirked “I don’t want to kill him” Vlad countered. “Good lord, child” D’Ablo rolled his eyes “you act as if Vampire’s weren’t predators.”

“We won’t need to kill him if I can convince him to stop his training.” D’Ablo shook his head and replied with “Killing him would be the easier path.”

Vlad frowned “maybe I don’t want that, maybe I want to try and save people.” D’Ablo shook his head again “and you think sparing a slayers life will save someone?” Vlad pursed his lips “well, maybe…”

“Tell me, Vladimir, did you ever learn if he’d killed a vampire before?” Vlad looked away “yes, not just one…” D’Ablo moved closer “how many?” Vlad wondered if he should give the actual number. If he should just lie and give something much lower than two dozen.

“Twenty five” Vlad saw D’Ablo’s steel grey eyes widen. Then a snarl worked its way across D’Ablo’s face “and you want to leave this young man alive?” Vlad pursed his lips “he’s not a young man, he’s my age. A boy, just like me.” Vlad countered “really?” D’Ablo shifted “what makes you think that?”

“I went through three years of high school with him, last time I checked, most twenty year olds have a hard time passing as teen agers.” D’Ablo backed up, as if angered that Vlad might leave other vampires to die just for a slayer. “What about the vampires he claimed to have killed?” Vlad was silent as he dug back into his memories “there might be a possibility, if we go to the training grounds, we could scour the area and search for any vampires hiding out.”

D’Ablo looked skeptical “do you even know where the slayer’s training ground is?” Vlad nodded “I think so, Joss mentioned the Catskills in New York.” D’Ablo looked down at him, as if contemplating Vlad’s idea. “How can you be sure?” D’Ablo asked.

“I can’t,” Vlad began “but I wasn’t sure when I walked into your office either.” Vlad reminded him “I told you, I was ready to kill you if things went wrong.” And he still was. Vlad had been constantly reminding himself of that over the last few months. It only took one act, one reason. And Vlad wouldn’t have a choice.

“Then, are you prepared to kill the slayer?” Vlad stiffened, he didn’t know if he was or not. Joss had been his friend and Henry’s family. D’Ablo seemed to take Vlad’s silence as an answer and spoke “you’re not, are you?”

Vlad looked away, D’Ablo clucked his tongue “Vladimir, you have a child’s view of the world.” The council president folded his arms across his chest “People won’t just change because you want them to.”

D’Ablo then set his jaw “But, I would be just as bad as the society it’s self if I left nearly thirty vampires to die.” Onyx eyes returned to D’Ablo “so, you’ll help me?” the vampire leaned down “I’m helping my own kind, but I’ll give you the space to try and help that boy.”

The vampire’s hands then came down and grabbed Vlad by the shoulders. Their grip was hard enough to cause faint bruising on the boy’s shoulders. “But understand this, the moment that boy kills even one vampire…” Vlad saw a flash of fangs, “we’re leaving and that boy will face whatever death is eventually meant to befall him, got it?” Vlad nodded. Eyeing the vampire’s sharpened teeth closely.

“Now, come.” Vlad blinked in slight confusion. D’Ablo looked back at him, his face now showing mild annoyance “Vladimir, we have to locate the slayer base. From there I can arrange transport and housing.” Vlad swallowed “how will you find out where it is in time?” the boy asked, a smile played across the vampire’s lips “we have a data base of all known training grounds.”

The teen looked surprised “you do?” “Of course, we keep tabs on them just like they try to keep tabs on us.” Vlad nodded the way D’Ablo stressed the word ‘try’ as if the society normally failed at keeping an eye on Elysia. “You never know when you might need to… Say... storm a compound and arrest everyone inside on ‘terrorist’ activities.” Vlad was a bit taken aback, suddenly wondering how many people that he’d seen painted as terrorists and potential mass shooters were actually slayers. Ones Elysia had been subtly catching and arresting. And ones that they had opted to kill on sight, rather than arresting and going through a mock trial.

D’Ablo cleared his throat, bringing Vlad back to the current situation “coming, Vladimir?” the boy stared for a moment before nodding and following after.


	3. Chapter 3

Vlad slipped into the seat next to D’Ablo. The jet was small, though lavish. D’Ablo had explained that it was one of the council’s, a small privet jet used to escort one or more members safely if they thought there might be security risk.

Though Vlad doubted that was the only reason, considering how nice it felt to not be cramped in with a bunch of strangers. Vampires also seemed to have the money to regularly afford these types of things. He’d seen it a bit when Otis began fixing up his parent’s old home in the first timeline. Something that lightly irked at him, leaving a hollow feeling, to think of his childhood home being changed.

The teen wet his lips and looked out past D’Ablo at a darkening runway that was just beyond the small window. It was after nightfall, a time D’Ablo had seen better to leave at. Vlad wagered it was because they’d also arrive in New York with enough nighttime to get into the Catskills and set up at the cabin.

Vlad then turned his gaze to the other passengers in the jet. Otis had taken a seat across from him and D’Ablo, which was separated by a small table. It hadn’t been hard to convince Otis to join them. In fact, the moment Vlad brought up going anywhere with D’Ablo, Otis said he was coming. It almost made Vlad smile, seeing Otis so protective. Just like the first time.

But it also concerned him, Otis was still privy to D’Ablo and the other vampire’s on the council and what they knew. Vlad wondered if Otis knew that Stokerton was planning something, something that might involve him. Regardless, Vlad was happy his uncle would be joining them.

The boy’s eyes then moved over to a woman who’d taken the seat across from D’Ablo. A redhead with emerald green eyes and pale skin that seemed to border on powder white. Her name was Emily.

She had given Vlad a small smile when they’d first been introduced. Though, now it seemed she was just glaring at him. It made the boy just a tad bit uncomfortable, even if she didn’t have any ill will towards Vlad. D’Ablo had introduced her as his new vice president, who’d been elected in the year following Tomas leaving Elysia.

Vlad’s eyes flitted over to a second woman, one with chestnut colored hair and pale green eyes. Aura, Vlad recalled. She was supposed to be the council’s incident control manager. It seemed that the woman also had a particular intrest in Vlad. Like she had questions that Vlad was the only person on the planet they could answer them. Which, to be fair, wasn’t exactly too far off.

The boy knew a lot of things, had learned a lot of things. Though he still had a bit to go before he recovered all of his memories from the past time line.

The boy had also begun to notice that some of the council members, atleast the few he’d interacted with, seemed a lot less hostile towards him. He could only recall memories of D’Ablo’s council showing him nothing but distain.

Perhaps, this was the norm for them? Perhaps, without D’Ablo removed from their ranks, the council functioned a lot better.

D’Ablo looked over at Otis and spoke up “when we get to the house, we’ll run a quick look around the pace for any trail cameras and monitoring equipment. Anything you find, you disable.” Otis and the other vampires nodded.

Vlad pursed his lips “won’t they notice something’s up when they can’t monster the house anymore?” the boy asked. It was a good question, atleast Vlad thought so. If there were things scatter about to watch them, the slayers would definitely notice when they couldn’t hear or some anything anymore.

“If the slayers begin questioning things, we can distract them with mind control.” The vice president said, as if it were simply that easy. Vlad sat back in his seat, still unsure if it were that easy. Joss was the only slayer Vlad had ever known personally, he had no clue if the other vampires were that easy to manipulate.


	4. Chapter 4

The small black car sped down the dark winding road, its head lights illuminating the surrounding trees and rocks as they passed by. Vlad glanced out the window at the dark forest, his eyes fell on the side mirror. In its reflection he could see the other car following close behind.

Vlad glanced back at D’Ablo, who sat in the front passenger seat, next to one of the guards. The council president seemed focused on giving directions as they sped along. Vlad wasn’t sure how quickly the slayers would take notice of the eight new arrivals to the area.

He hoped the slayers would just pass them off as a family on a camping trip of sorts. But considering D’Ablo’s status as a council president, how long would it take them to recognize a high ranking vampire?

Elysia kept a good eye on the society, according to D’Ablo, but did that mean the Society did the same? Did they know about D’Ablo and the rest of the councils? How much did they know? Vlad bit his lip, nervous that things could quickly spiral out of control before they had the chance to do anything.

The boy also wondered if D’Ablo was really aiming to evacuate the vampires in the area, or if he planned on gearing them up to fight and take out the slayers.

Vlad glanced back out the window when the car slowed and turned up a gravel road. A house came into view, only partially illuminated by the headlights. Vlad was sure the area probably looked breathtaking in the day light, but at night, it all felt like he was in a slasher movie.

Gravel crunched under foot as Vlad slid out of the car and looked around. He wondered exactly how close they were to the society’s training grounds and if they’d already been noticed. It wasn’t like most people to come driving up into the woods in the middle of the night.

D’Ablo cleared his throat, drawing the young Halfling’s attention. Vlad turned to look at the vampire, who was holding up his suitcase. Vlad smiled sheepishly and took it. D’Ablo just rolled his eyes and returned to grabbing the luggage from the car.

Vlad turned and began making his way up to the front porch. The three guards had already made their way over and one was unlocking the front door. Vlad watched the vampire lean into the front door. It gave a little resistance before it opened into a dark house. The three male vampires each filed in and Vlad was about to follow them, when a hand suddenly clamped down onto his shoulder.

Vlad turned and looked at his uncle “and where do you think you are going?” the Frenchman asked, Vlad stared for a moment. The young Pravus thought it would atleast be slightly obvious. “Inside” he said, pointing towards the open door way.

“Not until they finish clearing the house.” Otis said and then began redirecting Vlad back towards D’Ablo and the other vampires. “Why?” Vlad asked “because, they are searching the house for traps. And if there is something there, I don’t want you in the middle of it.”

The young Pravus came to stand beside Emily, the council’s vice president. “What makes you guys think the house might be booby trapped? D’Ablo’s steel grey eyes looked down at Vlad as he spoke “we are in an area with slayers milling about, one can never be too careful.”

“So, you’re worried they might have rigged the house to go up in flames or something?” D’Ablo nodded “Not exactly, but we are part of one of Elysia’s councils, so it’s better safe than sorry.” Vlad nodded, “anything else we need to worry about?”

D’Ablo glanced back to the open door way before speaking “we’ll need to search the house for bugs, so until we give you the all clear, keep any and all conversations pertaining to Elysia to telepathy.” Vlad cocked his head to the side “I don’t suppose you mean bugs like spiders, ants, and cock roaches.”

The vampires shook their heads “no, I mean listening and recording devices.” D’Ablo gestured to the building “we’ll spend the next few evenings searching the place, clearing out any we may find.”

“Won’t the slayers notice when they can’t hear what’s going on inside the house?” the vampire’s smirked “once again, little one, we have the advantage of mind control and telepathy. If they do notice, we can easily steer them away from us.”

Vlad looked around at the darkened woods “do you think they’re watching us right now?” The vampires didn’t even bother to look around them “no, we’re nowhere near the training grounds and they probably haven’t noticed our arrival just yet. And I haven’t been able to reach any other minds in the area with my telepathy, so it’s doubtful they’re nearby.”

The boy was then curious “can slayers block our telepathy?” he asked “Mind control, no. but a few have managed to figure out that causing themselves a slight bit of pain can muddle their thoughts, making it harder to pick out necessary information.”

“Pain?” Vlad asked “like purposely hurting themselves?” the vampires all nodded “yes, typically by biting their tongues, though I’m sure they’ve used other methods.”

The boy then wondered if that’s how the Tego charm worked. If it caused some level of pain to those affected, or if it was just some weird type of wall surrounding the mind that made it harder to get through.

Otis lightly nudged Vlad forward, making the young Halfling look up at him. The blond vampire gestured towards the house, Vlad turned to look back to the house, and the three vampires had come out. “Seems we’re clear for now.” D’Ablo said.

Vlad looked to his uncle, who was starting for the house alongside the other vampires. Vlad bit his bottom lip and followed after, the crunch of gravel quickly changed to the thumps of footsteps on the hard wood porch.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gods only know what possessed me to write this chapter using a neon orange pen in the note book… it’s the entire damn chapter, too! Fuck!

Vlad laid back on the bed, his onyx eyes looking up at the ceiling. The bedroom had two beds, the second of which his uncle had claimed. Vlad glanced over to see the vampire placing what looked like polos and thin button up shirts in the small closet.

A smile slowly came to Vlad’s face, even outside of Elysia, it seemed like his uncle never wore t-shirts of any kind. The boy sat up and looked around the room again, it seemed fairly plain, with wall paper that looked like something a grandmother would have in their home.

“So uncle” Vlad began, getting Otis’ attention “what are we going to do tomorrow?” Vlad asked, the boy figured if they were trying to seem normal, he might as well act as mundane as humanly… well technically vampiricly possible.

“Oh” Otis mused “We’ll probably just spend the day resting, after all, it is fairly late. And I’d wager everyone is exhausted from the trip out here.” Vlad nodded “right” the boy looked up at the ceiling. “The day after, I suppose we’ll go for a hike in the woods.”

Otis smirked “you know the woods around here are quite beautiful.” Vlad grins back at his uncle, fairly sure they were on the same page. “Sounds like fun.” Vlad said, sitting up.

The blond vampire regarded his nephew for a moment and then spoke “and Vladimir, if you decide to go out at night, becareful. There are mountain lions around here, and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Vlad nodded again, he was certain Otis was talking about the slayers and warning him to becareful.

Vlad’s heart skipped a beat when a loud series of bangs reverberated through the small house. Vlad and Otis both turned their heads towards the bedroom door, the boy licked his lips and looked to his uncle. “That sounded like it came from down stairs.” Otis set the shirt he had been holding off to the side.

“At the front door? Or somewhere else?” Vlad asked, “front door.” Vlad watched his uncle slowly creep towards the door. “It’s a bit late for visitors. The boy said softly as he followed behind Otis as he walked into the hallway.

The young Pravus followed his uncle towards the top of the narrow stair case. Vlad blinked when he saw D’Ablo leaning over the railing, eyes intently focused on the door bellow.

The council president glanced at the pair for a moment before returning his gaze to the floor below. The Halfling then noticed the hand gun in D’Ablo’s leather clad grip. He also realized that he had nothing in terms of weaponry at that time, just the Lucis, which did little in the way of taking out a slayer.

D’Ablo continued down the steps to the door, Vlad and Otis close behind. The boy saw the other vampires standing around the door, ready to pounce on their uninvited guest.

“Who is it?” Vlad asked through telepathy, D’Ablo glanced at him again ‘I’m not sure.’ He said, Vlad shifted uncomfortably ‘vampire?’ he questioned, hoping that it had been another of their own kind to take notice of them, rather than a slayer. ‘If it is, they don’t have a mark.’

Vlad bit his bottom lip nervously, he recalled that without a mark, a vampire was nearly invisible to the rest of Elysia.

D’Ablo then took a step towards the door. With how tense the council president looked, Vlad wondered if he expected hell itself to come through when he opened the door. Vlad jumped when he heard Otis hiss something out in French, something that D’Ablo seemed to just shrug off.

“Who’s there?” D’Ablo demanded “open the damn door, Council President.” A male voice snapped from the other side.

The group was silent for a moment, whoever this was, they knew D’Ablo was here and what his status was.

Vlad swallowed the lump in his throat and looked back at his uncle. The Frenchman looked almost predator like.

D’Ablo slowly unlatched the door and then quickly swung it open, the handgun coming up to greet their unwanted vaster.

There was a single moment of silence before D’Ablo lowered his weapon and smirked. “Sirus” the vampire said smoothly. “It’s good to see you again.” Vlad was sure D’Ablo could have put more enthusiasm in his voice if he really was that excited “can we talk?” the man asked, sounding as if he were speaking through clenched teeth.

D’Ablo glanced back at Vlad and signaled for him and Otis to follow. The blond vampire stepped forward, gently pushing Vlad along with him. The boy quickly got the hint and followed his uncle and D’Ablo outside.

Vlad looked at the man, he was tall with dark grey eyes, ones not unlike D’Ablo’s, and blond hair cut in a military style.

The group walked a few feet down the driveway and then stopped “that was quite the greeting, Mr. President.” Sirus said, D’Ablo still wore the smirk on his face “yes, well you could say that I’m a bit paranoid, for obvious reasons.” The council president said.

“Even so, you might want to reconsider pointing a gun in the face of everyone that comes to the door.” D’Ablo’s smirk just widened into a grin.

“And how may I help you this fine evening?” D’Ablo asked, changing the subject to the reason behind the stranger’s arrival. “You can start by explaining what you and your group are doing here?”

D’Ablo shrugged “I’m here on business.” The vampire said curtly “and that business?” Sirus asked “we’re here to evacuate as many vampires from the area as possible.” D’Ablo said, Sirus looked at D’Ablo as if he were the stupidest man alive.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, D’Ablo there are nearly forty vampires in the area. You really think you can find all of them?”

“I’ve brought a group, we can send a few off and leave a few here to guard the cabin.” D’Ablo said, then he looked to Vlad. “And the boy, has his own agenda.” Vlad shrank back when Sirus’ grey eyes landed on him. “I’m looking for a boy, about my age, who’s supposed to be going through his training this summer.” Vlad said.

The man cocked his head to the side “his name wouldn’t happen to be joss, would it?”

“Yeah!” Vlad said enthusiastically “is he around the camp?” Vlad asked “no, not yet” Sirus shook his head “Joss won’t be getting in for another two days. For some reason, Abraham thought it would be a good idea to have the kid take the train all the way out here from California.”

“Abraham?” Otis spoke up, a smirk forming on his lips “I had no idea he’d be out here.” Otis said, Vlad turned to look at his uncle. A worried look on the boy’s face “I take it you two know each other.” Otis’s smirk morphed into a grin “oh, we go back a few decades.” He chuckled “back to when he was a bit less experienced in killing vampires.”

Vlad then asked “you’re not hoping to pick up where you left off?” the boy was a bit concerned that he’d have to keep an eye on Otis as well. Vampires picking off Joss’ close friends and family wouldn’t make him see vampires in a better light.

“Oh no” Otis said “unless he becomes an immediate threat.” Otis then looked to D’Ablo “some of us are smart enough to not run head on into a group of slayers, looking to fight them.” Vlad got a curious look on his face as D’Ablo just shrugged.

“Is there anything else, or are you heading back?” Sirus was quite for a moment before a spoke “there’s a girl named Kat running around the training grounds. She’s not undergoing training and it would be best if you and your group kept their hands off her.”

Vlad tensed at the threatening look that passed over Sirus’ face. D’Ablo nodded, not seeming the least bit intimidated. “Ah, yes.” He said “you’re daughter.”

D’Ablo shifted “I’ll make sure the other’s know, but make sure she doesn’t become a nuisance.” The vampire warned.

Vlad then stiffened when the man turned to walk away. His onyx eyes landed on a stake strapped to Sirus’ waist. A stake? Was this guy a slayer? If so, why was he giving D’Ablo information?

He felt a hand come down on his shoulder, Otis shook his head and pushed the boy towards the house.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Vlad leaned against the tree as he attempted to catch his breath. Even in the shade of the forest, it was hot as hell outside. And their hike through the forest hadn’t exactly made things and less hot. There was also the fact that Vlad wasn’t exactly the most adept at hiking.

D’Ablo looked around, his eyes scanning their surroundings for anything that remotely hinted at vampires being nearby. “We’ve been at this for hours, and found nothing.” He said “not even a single trace.

The vampire then looked back to Vlad “are you sure that slayer boy told you the truth before?” D’Ablo asked, the boy nodded “I found records that indicated there were vampires killed in this area after talking with Joss.” Vlad said, and Sirus seemed to confirm that. But Vlad wasn’t about to put a lot of trust in a possible slayer. But there was one other issue.

Of all the records Vlad had managed to dig up, none gave any form of suitable information. There were no names, no locations, no death certificates or records of the vampires who died. “The thing is.” The boy began, looking at the other vampires “the records were a little vague, to say the least.” The boy then locked eyes with D’Ablo “I’d say you need to learn how to keep records better, but those seemed to be the execution, considering I looked through other records and found in-depth reports.”

“Twenty five vampires dead, and the reports hardly had anything in them.” Vlad recalled that a few of them had when rip with inconsistency after inconsistency. It honestly made the boy wonder if the vampires had gone out of their way to cover up the deaths. If D’Ablo and his council had been attempting to hide something.

“Perhaps it was for the best you never looked into it any further.” Aura said “spotty and vague reports never lead anywhere good.” Her green eyes focused solely on Vlad. The teen set his jaw “yeah, like untimely death, corruption, and wrongful convictions.”

D’Ablo smirked “I assure you Vladimir, what we do is for the best. No government is perfect and somethings are best kept in the shadows, don’t you think.” There was a look in D’Ablo’s eyes. One that gave Vlad the feeling that this was a subject that was best to not push. Less he end up like other’s who’d questioned Elysia’s actions.

Aura then walked over to D’Ablo “perhaps its best we start back, the sun’s becoming a bit unbearable.” She said, looking up through the tree branches. “We can search again later, when the sun begins to set.” D’Ablo nodded “yes, I can send Otis, Emily, and one of the guards out.” D’Ablo then sighed “and hopefully, if they are even here, the vampires residing in the area will notice us eventually.”

Vlad pursed his lips “and if they think you’re here to arrest them?” the boy asked “if they’ve done nothing wrong, then they have no reason to fear us.” D’Ablo said simply. The young Pravus wasn’t sure that was entirely true.

After all, he’d done nothing but exist and Elysia had come after him with a vengeance.

“Is there any way to reach them with Telepathy?” D’Ablo shook his head and started back down the trail. Vlad and the other vampire close behind him. “No, not unless they keep their minds open.” The vampire said.

Vlad watched him maneuver down the hill with a lot more ease than the young Pravus was capable of. “And we also need to take distance in as a factor. I don’t know where they are, therefore, I don’t know how far away from me they are. They could be far beyond my telepathic reach or they could be just with in it.”

The boy nodded, recalling that telepathy, while useful, had its limitations. “It might also open up the door to any vampires in the area who might hold a grudge against the council and decide to exact revenge.”

Vlad was sure that revenge wouldn’t exactly be undeserved, but he honestly didn’t want to worry about fighting off vampires alongside worrying about slayers.

Though, he wasn’t entirely sure how different that was from the fact they were out looking for the vampires, instead of waiting for the vampires to come to them. Vlad guessed it was atleast somewhat because they were armed and alert.

“and what do we do if slayers or vampires do try to attack?” he asked, it wasn’t that likely that they’d have an issue at this point in time, as long as they didn’t attract any unwanted attention. But, he still wanted to make sure there was a plan of some sort.

“Kill them” D’Ablo said simply, his eyes flashed back to Vlad before returning to the forest in front of him. “Kill them and do it quick. If you don’t, they will kill you.”

Vlad swallowed “all of them?” he asked “yes, all of them. When it comes to slayers, we don’t need a survivor going back to headquarters and reporting what they saw.” The boy’s shoulders slumped “oh, it seems the boy has a bleeding heart.” Aura chimed out.

D’Ablo didn’t look back at Vlad, “you cannot feel sympathy for these slayers Vladimir, even if you’ve never fed off a human, they’ll kill you without a moment’s hesitation.” Thought Vlad didn’t speak it, it thought the same could be said for vampires as well.

The young Pravus could recall more than a few vampires that had attacked and/or attempted to end his life on a number of times in the first timeline.

“But I’m sure you’ll grow out of this eventually. All vampires do, it’s just a matter of time.” D’Ablo ducked under a tree branch, “no vampire remains that sympathetic forever, and you are no different. Eventually, you will find the proper place to draw the line.”

Vlad watched D’Ablo easily scale down the embankment, aura close behind. Vlad hesitated, looking down the rocky edge. It was only a five foot drop, not taller than he was. But still, the boy wasn’t exactly graceful and he knew it.

The teen knelt and dangled one foot over, attempting to find a perch. “What the hell are you doing?” D’Ablo asked, annoyance practically dripping from his voice. “Trying to be cautious.” Vlad said, it honestly should be obvious to D’Ablo.

“You’ll never get anywhere by being cautious.” Aura said. There was a harsh tug on his pants leg, sending the boy head over heels off the ledge and onto the forest floor below.

D’Ablo looked down unsympathetically as Vlad pushed himself up “living counts as somewhere, I’m sure.” The boy counters as he slowly gets to his feet.

The council president rolled his eyes “and where’s the fun in that?” he asked with a smirk “you’re a vampire, kid, act like one. You’ve got an eternity and nigh immortality, do something a bit reckless from time to time.”

“You know” Vlad began “I’m pretty sure it was your lack of caution that snow balled the events of the first timeline.” Considering it was D’Ablo who ran right at the kid holding what could only be considered a literal light canon, one could understand how Vlad could come to that conclusion.

“And I’m sure that lapse in judgment was a onetime thing.” D’Ablo said dismissively. The boy just shook his head, recalling at least one other time he’d shot D’Ablo with the Lucis, neither of which had been fatal.

The small cabin slowly began to come into view through the thick tree line. Vlad could see it off white walls brightened by the early afternoon sun. Truth be told, Vlad actually looked forward to laying down and getting some rest. He may be the Pravus, but that didn’t mean he had the stamina to spend the entire day hiking through the woods.

As Vlad walked in through the front door, he glanced to his right at a trashcan full varied devices that the vampires had been pulling from various hiding places in the walls, vents, and other locations around the house.

Every single one of these had been thoroughly destroyed with a vengeance.

The boy wondered how long it would take the slayers to notice what had happened and that a house had gone silent. That is, if these things were broadcasting, rather than recording. For all Vlad knew, they could have been doing both.

Vlad tiredly plopped himself down in a chair at the plain wooden table and laid his head down on his folded arms. “Any luck?” the boy heard his uncle’s voice ask “no, not one bit.” D’Ablo said, sitting down in one of the other chairs.

“But if they are here, I’d say it might be a bit unlikely that they’d be this close to the training grounds?” Vlad lifted his head “how close are we?” he asked “about a mile, maybe a bit less.” D’Ablo said and then looked back to Otis.

“You, Emily, and Ulric will go out in a few hours, when the sun is nearly setting, and do a bit of searching farther out.”

D’Ablo then looked at Vlad “or perhaps we’d have just a bit more luck just killing our enemies now, instead of risking death.” Vlad opened his mouth to protest, but his uncle beat him to it. “D’Ablo, that’s all well said and done, but it would just put us back were we started before we killed them all.” The blond pointed out.

“They slayers would notice the death of an entire group, and they’d send more to investigate the area. More slayers, means a bigger chance that they’d find the other vampires and kill them.” The young Pravus felt atleast somewhat relieved that he could count on his uncle a little bit when it came to this.

“It would also draw the attention of the humans in this area, they’d definitely notice the brutal murders of nearly a dozen campers.” The female vampire leaned in “and you remember the last time you drew that sort of unwanted attention, right?” she grinned “yes, yes, Em wanted my head on a silver fucking platter.” D’Ablo said, once again sounding dismissive.

The council president then grinned “though I still considered it well worth the trouble.” He chuckled. Vlad furrowed his brow, wondering what D’Ablo had done to garner that much hatred from Em. The teen would have pressed the issue further, but the back door swung open.

Sirus stepped through “is there something else we can help you with?” D’Ablo asked, jumping immediately to the point. “No, I just came to inform you that Joss will be here tomorrow.” The man walked over and handed Vlad a small sheet of paper that was about the size of a large note card.

The boy took it and looked up at the slayer “what’s this?” he asked “Joss will be starting his purification within a few hours of his arrival, that there is the schedule of when one of the slayers will and will not be around him.” Vlad looked back at the paper, eyes reading over the slightly messy handwriting.

“And there are slayers who will be making their rounds, try not to get caught.” Vlad nodded “I’ll do my best.” Vlad smiled “thank you.”

The boy then frowned “how should I approach him?” the boy then questioned “I don’t know, but I’d say it’s in your best intrest to not tell him you’re a vampire. He will sound the alarm and try to get the other slayers. Once he knows, you’ll have no chance at getting him to listen.”

Vlad took in a deep breath, realizing he’d have to find another way to get the message across that vampires weren’t’ all monsters, without using himself as an example. He already had a few ideas come to mind, but he’d have to think them through a bit more before the next night.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Vlad walked into the kitchen, the smell of an in progress meal meeting him. The boy had expected to see his uncle standing in front of the stove, hopefully working on a meal that wouldn’t make their house look like something out of a horror movie.

The boy had some recollection of his uncle being a decent cook, all be it a messy one. But still, Vlad could recall a few times were Otis fixed a delicious meal for him and nelly.

So it came to his surprise when he saw D’Ablo standing in front of the counter next to the stove, chopping away at what appeared to be green peppers. Vlad walked over, not taking his eyes off D’Ablo’s hand with the knife, “you know how to cook?”

D’Ablo’s knife slowed down for a moment, then resumed its quick motions. A smirk crossed his face “something tells me this never came up?” he asked, the teen shook his head “no” Vlad leaned over and looked into the pan of simmering sauce.

“It’s not uncommon for many vampires in Elysia to have the ability to cook in some form or another.” D’Ablo began “it’s an ability that many of use carry over from our human lives.” He then pauses, his steel grey eyes regarding Vlad for a moment “well, those of us over fifty years, anyways.” He shrugs.

“You’d be surprised at how many people in your generation don’t even know how to boil a bloody egg, it’s ridiculous.” Vlad rolled his eyes at D’Ablo’s statement “some of us are a bit busy with work and school to have time to cook.”

D’Ablo shakes his head and points the knife at Vlad, who tensed out of instinct “that’s no excuse for learning such a simple skill.” D’Ablo counters, “it’s not as hard as some try to pass it off to be, even with humanity’s so called ‘busy’ schedules.” The vampire then sets the knife aside “a vampire’s life, especial one like mine is far more hectic than the average human, and I’m quite the chief.”

The vampire then smirked “and if Humanity ate far less fast food, they’d taste a lot better and run a lot faster while being hunted.”

Vlad wasn’t exactly sure on how to respond to that. Considering that he saw humans as a lot more than just food and servants, it never sat well to hear a vampire talk that way about the people he loved so dearly.

“And your uncle grew up on a farm, working from dawn to dusk, and even he had some basic knowledge on cooking.” D’Ablo pauses as he dumps the peppers into the simmering pan “granted, it was never world class, but it was still a lot more than most humans today.”

A smile spread across D’Ablo’s face as he set the wood cutting board to the side. “How long have you known my uncle?” Vlad asked, after all, if D’Ablo knew that much about Otis’ ability, then he had to know Otis for a while.

“Oh…” D’Ablo trailed off “let’s see” Vlad waited patiently as Stokerton’s president quietly mumbled to himself. “Your father was sworn in as vice president in 1795. I met your uncle during the celebration party that was held after the ceremony.” D’Ablo said, going to work on stirring the chopped vegetable into the sauce, Vlad thought he saw the hints of chopped meat as well, meat he was sure he’d pick out later when he ate.

“Your uncle was a bit discouraged that he hadn’t accomplished as much as his oldest brother. He was still a fledgling then, with hardly any knowledge of Elysia and unable to speak its language to any extent.” The vampire chuckled “I still remember how downcast he looked, like a kicked puppy.” Another chuckle, Vlad wondered how vivid D’Ablo’s memories where, how much he recalled from centuries of life on this planet. “A good bit of alcohol and a hunt picked his spirits right up.”

Vlad was amazed at how fondly it seemed D’Ablo was talking about Otis. All Vlad could recall from the first timeline was their ever growing hatred for each other. “You guys must have been close friends back then, huh?”

D’Ablo looked back at Vlad, this time judging the teen for a moment. “Yes, such good friends.” Vlad noticed the strain on word ‘friends’ when D’Ablo spoke it. The boy furrowed his brow as D’Ablo continued “friends who lived together, spent more than our fair share of time together, slept together…” the boy looked at the vampire with a confused look on his face.

“Why did you guys stop being friends?” he asked “it feels like, even with you not trying to kill me, there’s something between you and Otis.” D’Ablo frowned “everything must come to an end eventually, Vladimir.” D’Ablo said.

Steel grey eyes moved back to the pan “are staying to eat with the rest of us? Or should I put some away for later?” D’Ablo asked, steering the conversation in a different direction.

“I’ll eat later, I’m heading out in a bit to talk to joss and wanted to give it a little extra time, just to make sure I don’t run into any slayers.” D’Ablo shook his head and sighed as if he deemed Vlad to be utterly hopeless.

“Well, if you’re heading into their training grounds, take this.” Vlad watched D’Ablo unclip something from his belt and hold it out for Vlad.

It was a decently sized combat knife, the boy looked from the sheathed blade to D’Ablo “what’s this for?” the boy asked. D’Ablo placed his hands on his hips “it’s dangerous to go alone into slayer territory, but considering what you’re attempting to accomplish, I can’t very well send a guard with you, now can I?” D’Ablo glared.

“I know you have that ‘stance on avoiding death and murder’ thing going for you, but atleast be ready if you do get caught. Otis doesn’t need to build your funeral pyre this soon.” Vlad pulled the knife free, examining the weapon. It was a good seven to eight inches and both edges were serrated, like a steak knife.

“You may be a vampire, one we don’t quite understand yet, but it’s always better safe than sorry. Keep that on you for defense, and if it comes to it, atleast do some damage to the slayer that attacks you, don’t just run away.” D’Ablo said sternly.

Vlad moved to clip the sheath to his own belt “thanks” he mumbled, though he hopped that he wouldn’t be forced to use it anytime soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Joss nearly jumped when the sound of a snapping twig filled the silence of the empty clearing. The slayer in training spun around, looking in every direction before his brown eyes settled on the light coming through the nearby brush.

It was already dark out, probably nearing ten pm, if not already past it. No one should be out hiking this late, no one but a vampire.

Vlad lowered his flashlight, ever so slightly, as he exited the brush and set foot in the clearing. The two teens were left staring at each other through the dark of night.

The Halfling remained quiet, focusing only on Joss’ thoughts, the Halfling hated using mind control, but he had to remove all thoughts of Joss calling for help from the other slayers. But he had to keep Joss’ thoughts somewhat normal.

Vlad knew he shouldn’t be this close to a slayer’s hide out, and that he looked more than a little suspicious being out this late. But he had a goal to accomplish, and this was a risk he was willing to take.

After a long moment, Vlad spoke “Hello?” he asked, the caution in his voice was more than just an act, he really was nervous at that point. Nervous that he may be staked through the heart again, not exactly the experience he wanted to relive.

“Hi” joss responded, a bit of hostility in his voice. Vlad took a careful step forward “I didn’t think anyone else was out here.” It was a lie, one of many Vlad was sure he’d told in the past.

He watched Joss run a hand through his own dark brown hair “yeah, but…” the human trailed off for a moment, his eyes still watching Vlad closely “I don’t think you should be here.” Joss said.

Vlad blinked, feigning ignorance “why? Is this privet property?” he asked, watching Joss nod. Vlad licked his lips, and turned to leave. His eyes briefly catching joss’s as he carefully implanted one more thought into the slayer’s head.

A false sense of recognition, all be it, a bit of a recognition, all be it, a bit of a vague one. It was the last bit of telepathy Vlad would use that night. He didn’t want Joss to change his mind because Vlad ordered him to. No, he wanted Joss to really understand that vampires weren’t all evil.

“Wait!” Vlad paused, “do I know you from somewhere?” Joss asked. “I don’t think so, why?” Vlad asked.

“What’s your name?” joss asked, the raven haired boy remained quiet for a moment, before speaking “Vlad” he answered. Joss pursed his lips into a thin line. “Vlad?”

Joss looked the Halfling up and down “you wouldn’t happen to know a guy named Henry, would you?” and there it was. The one thing Vlad had been banking on, Henry talking about him.   


“Henry McMillian?” Vlad asked with a smile “blond hair, green eyes, has the hots for every semi attractive girl that passes by?” “Yeah!” Jos laughed out “you must be his friend, he talks a lot about a guy named Vlad.” Vlad wondered how much ‘a lot’ really was.

“So what are you doing all the way out here?” Joss asked “after all, bather’s a long ways off.” The young Pravus smiled a little more “I’m here with my uncle and some friends of his for a few weeks.” Though, the boy wouldn’t exactly describe Otis and D’Ablo as friends at this point and he had no clue how the other couldn’t members felt about his uncle.

“You too?” Vlad nodded “something tells me you’re doing something similar?” Joss rubbed the back of his neck “yeah.” He said.

Vlad then looked around the clearing, his eyes briefly stopping on the nearby path, before returning to Joss. “So, can I hang out for a bit? I don’t mean any harm?” Vlad said, hoping he’d done enough to convince the would be slayer.

Joss looked around, as if expecting another slayer to come along any second and be angry as to why Vlad was there and why Joss hadn’t called to warn them. “I guess, but just for a little while. I don’t know how my uncle will react if he caught you out here.” Vlad nodded and walked over, his flashlight clicking off, as to not give away his presence to the other slayers in the area.

The young Pravus sat down in the grass, placing his flashlight beside him. Joss sat next to him, eyes still locked on the other teen.

The two sat there for a while, mostly discussing Bathery and joss’ cousins. Vlad giving a few short answers on how Henry and his family were doing and if he’d heard anything form henry about a kind of visit to see Joss.

The entire time, Vlad noticed Joss looking around, as if he expected something to come out and attack them. Vlad furrowed his brow, deciding now was the best time to ask what was up. Though he figured he had a good idea as to why joss looked nervous.

The slayer in training bit his bottom lip, looking apprehensive to say the least. “It’s actually kinda dangerous to be walking the woods at night, you know.” Joss said, Vlad looked over at him with curiosity.

“Why?” he asked, Joss went quite. Vlad wondered if he was trying to decide if he should tell Vlad the truth, or if he needed to come up with some lie.

It seemed like an eternity before Joss said something “look, you’re henry’s friend, so I guess it’d be alright to warn you.” The slayer in training looked around, as if making sure they were really alone, before whispering “there are vampires, in the forest, my uncle and the others are here trying to kill them.” Vlad cocked his head to the side.

He knew joss was telling the truth, there probably were vampires hiding out in these woods, doing whatever it was they were doing. But Joss didn’t know that he knew, so Vlad had to play dumb “Really?” the boy asked, a twinge of disbelief in his voice.

“I didn’t think they really existed, are you sure?” Joss nodded “yeah, I’ve seen one.” Vlad watched the other teen carefully. A look of rage and sadness crossed joss’s face “when?” Vlad asked, hoping the keep the conversation steered in the right direction.

“When it killed my sister.” Vlad stiffened, recalling Joss’s story about seeing his little sister, Cécile, killed when a vampire broke into their home. And then there was the usage of the word ‘It’ like the vampire wasn’t a person, just a creature. Like Joss was trying his hardest to dehumanize what he saw as the enemy.

Vlad pursed his lips “yeah, henry mentioned that you lost your sister a few years ago.” The young Halfling really did feel sorry for Joss, after all, he did know the pain of loss. The hurt and confusion that came with it, the feeling of emptiness. He didn’t blame the other for being angry, but going around and committing murder wasn’t going to make things better.

“I just stood by while that monster killed her. I couldn’t even scream out for my parents or anyone to help me.” Vlad saw joss’ hands tense “they’re all evil, every single one of them. And I’m going to make sure every last one is whipped off the earth.” Vlad felt his blood run cold and his mouth go dry.

There was a long pause as Vlad attempted to process what Joss had just said to him. It was actually terrifying to hear someone say they wanted to whip an entire group of people off the map because of one bad experience and a lack of information on them.

Vlad took in a deep breath “okay, so say vampires really do exist, and the guy you saw wasn’t just a serial killer or some crazy guy acting like a vampire, consider this.” Vlad wet his lips before continuing “how do you know all of them are evil?”

“One of them killed my sister, Vlad!” the Halfling shook his head “that may be true, but did you ever stop and consider that that was just one vampire out of the possible thousands, if not millions?” Vlad asked, Joss didn’t answer.

“It’s possible, if there are vampires out there, that they are like humans. Some of them may be horrible individuals with nothing but hate and blood lust. Others might see humanity as companions and care for the humans close to them.” The boy then looked down at the grass beneath him, his mind search for more ways to make joss doubt the society.

“They feed on humans Vlad!” “And we feed on cattle, wolves eat rabbits, cats eat mice, and spiders eat insects. It’s just the way Nature works.” Joss shook his head “but people don’t want to be eaten.” “And neither do the cattle, rabbits, mice, and insects.” Vlad shrugs, it honestly felt odd to him to be defended the diet he couldn’t even bear the thought of partaking in.

“You could also factor in that some vampire’s don’t feed off people. There could be some vegetarian vampires, ones who drink the blood of animals rather than humans.” That was a bit of a stretch honestly. Vlad had yet to meet another vampire who did such a thing. Even Otis had once mentioned that the blood of animals was not enough for vampires to survive off of. “And some may use blood bags from the hospital, skipping the process of hunting down and biting a human.”

Vlad didn’t really giving joss the chance to argue. “Or they might not kill the humans they hunt, just drink a little and then leave them to recover and move on with their lives.”

The young Pravus then looked over, carefully watching Joss’ face. The human appeared to be confused, Vlad wasn’t exactly sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing at that moment.

“And think of it this way, when one human murders another, are we all guilty then? Even though I never laid a hand on the victim, let alone knew them?” Vlad asked “well no…” Joss muttered.

“Imagine if all of humanity was judged by the actions of the worst of the worst, the serial killers and dictators who murdered millions…” sure he’d seen some particularly terrible vampires in his time, but he’d never met one who attempted mass murder.

Vlad sighed and looked up at the sky, the stars twinkled down at them “I know it’s terrible, losing your little sister like that. But this whole ‘chasing vampires’ thing won’t bring her back.” He sighed “and it’s possible this whole vampire thing is just a weird way you’re coping with it, the brain does weird things when faced with a situation it can’t process.” Like Vlad’s guilt after the fire. He knew it hadn’t been his fault, but for years after, he’d blamed himself over and over for what happened.

The pair sat there in silence for a little bit, neither daring to speak as the forest filled the void of conversation. Vlad’s hearing would occasionally pick up the sounds of smaller creatures skittering through the leaves.

Vlad was sure there wasn’t much to say after that conversation. He doubted he could easily steer the conversation back to something mundane.

The teen licked his lips and stood “I probably should get going, it’s getting late and I told my uncle I’d only be out for a short walk.” Vlad stood and dusted himself off, the Halfling picked up his flashlight and turned “I guess I’ll see you around.” “Yeah, see you.” Joss muttered as Vlad started for the forest.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mountian lions are a lot bigger up close, aren't they Vlad?

Vlad sighed as he walked back down the trail, this was the last night of Joss’ purification and he hopped he’d managed to get atleast somewhere with his friend. The young Pravus had kept the use of mind control to a minimum, still set on doing things the right way.

What good was it if joss was only doing something because Vlad had manipulated his thoughts? It wasn’t a real change, and Vlad knew that. It would only work for a while, then would wear off and leave an angry Joss. Something Vlad was also not as keen on dealing with for a second time.

Vlad carefully maneuvered the tree branch out of the way, careful not the let it slap him in the face as he walked.

While the woods looked nice during the day, they didn’t sit well with Vlad at night. The whole forest felt unearthly when the sun set. He felt like something would come after him, a monster from some old movie or video game.

The boy looked around, making sure he was going the right way still. His onyx eyes watching the age old trees as they stood silently. Their limbs only slightly swaying in the nighttime breeze.

It often struck the boy that, if he made even one wrong turn, he’d be lost out here. Vlad had wondered if he should be marking the trees along the path, just to make sure he could find his way back. But then he knew it could also lead the slayers to them if they came across his trail.

The sound of rustling leaves made the boy stop in his tracks. Perhaps it was the excess amount of horror movies he’d watched that made him spin around, shining his in every direction. He sincerely hoped it wasn’t a slayer.

His eyes wide as he tried to peer into the darkness beyond the small circle of light. His heart skipped a beat when he heard more rustling from his left, Vlad turned just in time to see a dark figure crouching in the nearby brush.

 

* * *

 

D’Ablo poured another glass of blood wine and returned to the table to sit down. Otis sat across form him, eyes focused on a book laying open on the table. The council’s vice president sat to D’Ablo’s left, her green eyes focused on one of those adult coloring books. The other vampires had already retreated to their beds for the night and Vlad had run off to speak with the slayer earlier in the night.

One would think it foolish for vampires to seem distracted while keeping watch, but all it took was one little noise and the three would be alert and ready to fight. The three had drifted in and out of conversation for the past hour, discussing Elysian politics and the like.

D’Ablo swirled the sweet crimson liquid in his glass, a bottle from France if he recalled correctly, and spoke up “so, what’s the probability the kid’s going to fail miserably?” D’Ablo smirked when Otis tensed. His blue eyes lifted from the book and stared at D’Ablo for a long moment “I can’t say, Vladimir seemed more than a little determined.”

Otis let out a sigh “but determination isn’t always enough.” The blond vampire slipped a small green book mark in-between the pages of his book and closed it. “How long should we give it before the boy ends up getting in trouble?” Emily questioned, not taking her gaze off the intricate design. “I’m quite certain that Vladimir is smart enough to avoid detection.” Otis said firmly.

D’Ablo smirked before taking another sip from his glass “really, Otis?” he asked setting the half empty wine glass down “you think a kid his age is able to conduct himself like a normal vampire? He’s mentally and physically no more than a fledgling. A child if anything.”

The blond stayed quite for a moment “I don’t know, you seem to be doing just fine, though.” A small snap filled the room and Emily shook with barley contained laughter, the orange colored pen in her hand completely destroyed.

“Besides” Otis continued “Tomas is his father, and that boy has already shown some impressive abilities when it comes to handling some situations. I’m sure he has a lot to learn, but I wouldn’t call him completely inexperienced.”

D’Ablo looked as if he wanted to counter Otis on more than one of his points, and not just the ones on Vlad, when the sound of loud foot falls came from the front of the house. The trio turned their attention to the front door, which could be seen through the kitchen archway. “A vampire, don’t panic just yet” D’Ablo hissed softly.

The front door unlatched and opened, Vlad rushed in and slammed the door behind him. The boy pressed his back to the door, his chest rising and falling in deep, quick breaths.

Otis stood from the table “oh good lord, what happened to you?” he rushed over to his nephew. D’Ablo and Emily also stood from the table, though they weren’t’ as quick to run to the boy’s aid.

The boy’s uncle was quick to make sure he wasn’t hurt, though the boy was a mess with twigs and leave sticking out of his raven black hair, he wasn’t badly injured. Though he looked positively terrified over something.

“Where you attacked?” just nodded, not giving a verbal answer. “Did they follow you back?” D’Ablo asked. Emily also chimed in “where they slayer or vampire?” as Vlad attempted to compose himself, more foot falls filled the house.

It seemed the loud slam had awoken the other vampires in the house, all of which were heading for the steps.

“Neither.” Vlad said breathlessly “Mountain lion.”

There was a long moment of silence, all eyes focused on the boy as his breathing started to slow down.

A smirk formed on D’Ablo’s lips and the council president suddenly burst into laughter, nearly doubling over as he did so. The rest of the vampires, except for Otis, soon followed. Vlad was more than a little confused.

He wasn’t sure what was so funny, he doubted any of them would be laughing after nearly getting tone limb from limb from a large cat.

Then again, most of them would have been able to defend themselves against said cat.

The blond vampire put his arm around Vlad’s shoulders, leading the stunned Halfling towards the steps “come on, I want to talk a look at you.” He said, Vlad nodded and followed his uncle up the steps, the adrenalin that had been moving his body was nearly gone. Leaving the boy exhausted as he trudged up the steps.

 

* * *

 

Vlad slipped his shirt back on as Otis closed the medical kit with a click. There hadn’t been much to bandage, just a few bumps and bruises from Vlad’s tumble down the hill. Otis looked at his nephew, “it doesn’t look like anything serious, give it a day or two and you’ll be just fine.” Otis sighed.

The teen wet his lips, he knew he probably needed a shower to be off the rest of the dirt from the forest floor, but his body was practically screaming for sleep. Something he was attributing to the rush of adrenalin when he picked himself up and ran all the way back to the cabin.

Otis then placed a hand on Vlad’s shoulder “mind me asking why you got into a fight with the local wild life, Vladimir?” Vlad blinked, a fight? That wasn’t a fight? “I didn’t fight it, the thing let out of the bushes at me.” Vlad said “I’m sure it would have mulled me if I hadn’t fallen down the hill.”

Though that hadn’t been much better, sticks, leaves, and rockers were not all the comfortable to roll through. The blond vampire let out another sigh and stood “I see, well I did warn you about the mountain lions when we got here. You should have kept an eye out for them.”

Vlad blinked “wait, what?” he asked “I thought you just meant the slayers or something. I didn’t realize you meant actual mountain lions.” Otis looked at him, slightly baffled “no, if I was warning you about the slayers then I would have just used telepathy.” The vampire then shook his head.

Otis turned “get some rest Vladimir, I’ll be done with my watch in a few more hours.” Otis said “sleep well.” Vlad watched his uncle walk towards the door, his hand reaching up to flick the lights off as he walked out the door. It closed with a soft click and Vlad threw himself down.

The teens head hit the pillow and he glanced over to his back pack, inside were a few books and his journal. Well the one he’d begun keeping this time. He’d decided to have something to keep a comparison to this time line and the last one. To see how things were changing between the two.

He sighed, deciding that his next entry could wait till tomorrow. He was just too exhausted to work through that tonight.

The boy managed to work his way under the covers and closed his eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was also written in neon orange, why did I think that was a good idea?!

The old wooden boards creaked as Vlad stepped onto the porch, the young Pravus smiled at the other teen standing in front of him. A girl about his own age stood there with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

Vlad immediately noticed the blue and purple colors in her hair, something he honestly found a tad bit odd. He’d never seen a slayer with abnormally dyed hair before, in fact any slayers that he could recall looked average at best and a slight bit boring.

The whole image made the boy wonder if she would be undergoing the same trials as joss sometime soon.

With a smile still on his face, Vlad spoke “Hey, I’m Vlad” the girl seemed to immediately light up upon his introduction “well, it’s nice to meet you Vlad.” she chimed out, “Sirus said you were coming to see Joss today.”

The boy nodded and then looked around the porch, the other house was visible from this distance, though he didn’t see any of the other slayers. “is Joss inside?” he asked, pointing past her to the door.” The girl nodded “yeah, he is. But I gotta warn ya, he looks pretty bad.”

Considering some of the faint memories he’d been able to recover recently, the boy was sure this wouldn’t be as bad as some of the things he’d seen before. And Sirus had given him fair warning earlier in the morning when he’d stopped by.

He’d informed Vlad and the other vampires that one of the slayers had been killed and that joss had technically failed his purification.

The young Halfling had turned his head to look at D’Ablo. He wouldn’t have put it past the Stokerton president to either kill a slayer himself or allow one of the others to do it. Sirus had interrupted those thoughts, with the information that he thought the slayer had been taken by surprise by a mountain lion.

Something about finding a bottle of empty holy water and the man’s stake still in the holster attached to what remained of his leg.

The man only seemed more convinced when Vlad had informed him of being attacked the same night by a mountain lion on his way back from talking with joss.

After that, Vlad had immediately pressed for more information regarding joss, hoping that if he failed his training, this meant he was going to be sent home.

That didn’t seem to be the case though, considering joss had pretty much begged to stay. Even going as far as letting himself be whipped to make up for the failed cleansing.

Vlad had noticed that the information had left an uncomfortable feeling in the room. Though he hadn’t been sure if it was just between him and Sirus, or if the other vampires had something against the practice of whipping someone into submission.

The door behind Vlad closed, sealing out the heat of summer for the cool of the air conditioned house. “This way.” The girl said, Vlad didn’t hesitate to follow her “Sirus said you and joss know each other.”

The young Pravus shrugged “somewhat, he’s the cousin to my best friend.” Vlad explained “I see, quite the coincidence that you guys ran into each other out here.” The girl smiled.

Vlad then blinked, realized he hadn’t asked for her name yet “oh, hey, uh… what’s your name?” Vlad asked, feeling a bit embarrassed he hadn’t asked sooner. “Kat” the girl said.

The name reminded Vlad of Sirus’ warning towards D’Ablo. That warning to leave Kat alone under some unnamed threat of violence.

He nodded and smiled “it’s nice to meet you, Kat.” He wasn’t about to press the issue of Sirus or the Society, considering he wasn’t sure how much Kat knew at that time. It was possible that she was clueless to both the existence of vampires and the society.

Vlad then paused his steps and looked around, the home wasn’t too different from the one he and the other vampires were held up in.

“So, are you here for the same reason Joss and the others are?” Vlad wet his lips, if she meant, to kill vampires, then no. but it could also mean the hiking and spending time in nature, then Vlad could technically say yes. Considering they had to hike to find the other vampires hiding out in the forest.

“What is it Joss and the others are here for?” he asked, opting to play it safe. “Sirus says their hunting mountain lions, or something like that.” Vlad relaxed slightly and shook his head “no, we’re not out here to do any sort of hunting.” Though, Vlad was sure D’Ablo was ready for war.

He’d opened the pantry the evening before and found several sizable guns and knives all arranged on the lower half of the cabinet. Chances where, the guns were all loaded and ready to go in case of emergency.

Vlad sighed “we’re just out here to spend a bit of time around nature and I wanted to spend some time with my uncle.” Vlad said, his eyes flitted around again, nervous about another of the slayers popping in and immediately identifying him as a slayer. Just because Joss wasn’t trained to do so, doesn’t mean them others weren’t.

“Yeah, I’m not one for hunting either.” Kat said “I just came out here because Sirus was, and I didn’t want to be left home alone, he normally comes up here without me.” Vlad nods and looks the other teen up and down “I didn’t really expect you to be the hunting type, but you never can tell just by looks.” Vlad said. He wasn’t as sure about slayers, but being around vampires had reminded him that a 5 foot tall woman could just as easily break him in two as a 7 foot tall man.

The smile fell from Vlad’s face when they entered the den and he laid eyes on Joss. “Holy shit” the Halfling muttered “I heard it was bad, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

Vlad walked over “hey, don’t worry about it.” Joss said “I’ll be fine.” Vlad noticed the look of pain on his friend’s face.

“Are you sure?” the half breed asked “maybe we should get you to a hospital and let them take a look.” Vlad knew those wounds wouldn’t be identified as something any wild animal could possibly do. But maybe it would work out for the best if they could keep the slayers away from joss on even the slightest suspicion of abuse.

“No!” Joss snapped loudly at Vlad, the Halfling flinched back in shock. “I’ll be fine, I just need a few days and I’ll be alright.” Vlad wasn’t exactly convinced, but he wasn’t exactly able to hold this sort of argument right now.

 

* * *

 

D’Ablo reached down and gripped Otis’ hand, the brunet helped pull the younger vampire up the ledge. Beside D’Ablo stood the other two members of the council. Their arms crossed as they waited for Otis.

The blond vampire looked around after standing. His blue eyes taking a quick survey of the woods before they landed back on D’Ablo.

There was a cave not too far from them, one that had the potential to be hiding vampires from the summer’s sun. The four vampires had been at this for most of the day, and so far had nothing to show for it.

“We should turn back soon, this sunlight is becoming unbearable.” Emily said, looking up at the afternoon sky “I don’t think we’re going to find anything more and we don’t have enough sunscreen with us the last the rest of the day.”

D’Ablo nodded “I’ll have to agree,” the council president then looked at Otis “are we even sure your nephew knew what he was talking about?”

“Or that he even told us the truth?” There was a quiet stillness amongst the vampires, as if no one had considered the fact that Tomas’ son could be more than capable of misleading them.

Otis set his jaw and spoke “I’m sure Vladimir told us everything he knew and that it was the truth. It’s also worth remembering that he doesn’t have information on everything little thing that happened.” D’Ablo folded his arms across his chest “And Sirus did partially confirm it, he mentioned vampires being in the area.”

“Then maybe we should be asking him.” Aura said “if he knows for certain that they’re here, then maybe he can give us their location.”

The council president nodded “next time he comes by, we will. But for not, let’s check that cave over there and head back for a bit.” The other vampires just nodded and followed the council president.

Each of them drawing their weapons as they got closer. D’Ablo took in a deep breath and stepped into the mouth of the cave, having to duck to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling.

The vampire’s voice echoed off the stone walls as the Vampiric language left his lips. If there were vampires, and atleast one of them understood the language, they would know D’Ablo wasn’t a slayer.

The vampires remained silent for a moment, waiting for anything to come back at them. Their eyes stared into the dark cavern, watching for even the slightest movement in the shows.

D’Ablo glanced back at his vice president, who nodded, and opened his mouth to speak again. This time, the syllables had hardly formed on his tongue when he was interrupted “we heard you the first time, Mr. President.” A female voice hissed from the shadows, her tone practically dripped with cold hatred. Ice blue eyes locked on D’Ablo as a woman stepped from her hiding place in the cave.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abraham: it was a vampire who killed Malek!  
> Sirus: it was a mountain lion…  
> Abraham: A VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN LION!

“So, Mountain lion? It that the lie you’re going with?” Vlad stopped in his tracks. The young Pravus had been heading off in the direction of their house, when a loud and angry voice broke the calm afternoon. Vlad licked his lips, sticking to the tree line, he crept along until the other house, the one he hadn’t visited, was in view.

“It’s not a lie, Abraham, it’s what all the evidence points to.” Vlad could make out Sirus’ voice as he shouted back. “Evidence? You’re trusting vampires to not have manipulated the area?” the boy could see Sirus, and several others standing on the porch, one of which appeared to be female.

Vlad held his breath as he listened intently “yes, that could be a possibility, but I don’t think that’s what happened.” He saw Sirus point off into the woods “as of now, Malek died by a mountain lion, possibly the same one that also attacked another hiker on that same night.”

That hiker being Vlad, the boy was sure. “We shouldn’t go running off into the woods on blind suspicion.” “Suspicion?” Abraham barked the question.

Sirus took a step forward “Abraham, I have looked that area over three times. I found ever bit of evidence that could be found, and all of it still points to a wild animal of some sort. And that Hiker I mentioned, concluded that what they thought had attracted them was definitely a mountain lion.”

“Might I remind you, Sirus, that vampires are more than capable of changing their forms into that of animals?” Abraham said, sounding more and more frustrated with each word “yes, of course, but that falls apart when you realize that we have little to no proof that there are any vampire’s around here.”

The teen wondered what those other signs were supposed to be. Crops dying, animals acting strange, the ever present fear of constant and inescapable dread?

“So far, the death toll for all of the nearby towns is normal, and the only people dying are the elderly, sick, and injured.” Sirus continued “if the vampires were here, don’t you think they’d be a bit busier killing off the local population?”

“So what are you saying?” a female cut in “that Malek’s death wasn’t by vampire and that we might be looking in the wrong area.” Vlad wet his lips, now considering that a possibility. They’d been looking for over a week and found little to go on. It could also be possible that the vampires realized that slayers were converging around them and had decided to flee the area.

Vlad slowly back away, deciding it was best not to push his luck, and ran right into another person standing behind him. Sometimes irony was such a bitch.

The boy turned, coming face to face with a man. As far as Vlad could tell, he was human and very pissed off. “You gotta lot of nerve to be sneaking around here, kid.” He said sternly.

“I wasn’t sneaking around.” Vlad countered nervously “I just. Heard shouting and wanted to make sure things were okay.” He lied, the boy then moved to side step the possible slayer. To his horror, the man moved in the same direction.

This didn’t look good, if Vlad got into any sort of trouble, he wasn’t sure the other vampires would be close enough to hear his telepathy.

“I don’t mean any harm, if I’m trespassing, I’m sorry. I’ll leave and not come back.” Vlad said quickly. Onyx eyes darted around for an escape route.

He had to find one, and fast. He considered mind control, but didn’t know if a more experience slayer would be vulnerable to such a thing or if they had learned to recognize it and counter it somehow.

“Why don’t we go have a little talk about what you’re up to, then we’ll decide how little of a threat you are.” Vlad’s heart pounded against his ribs when the man reached for him.

In a split second decision, Vlad Bolted off into the woods. It might not have been the best of ideas, considering he had no clue as to where he was going. But it was better than being captured and tortured by slayers.

Vlad stopped behind a large oak tree, trying his hardest to catch his breath and remain hidden, just in case his pursuer had followed after him.

The Halfling’s senses perked as he listened to the sounds of the darkening forest, attempting to catch any sign of the slayers.

There was nothing, just the quite sounds of birds and small, unseen, animals. Vlad’s body relaxed and he leaned against the tree. “That was a little to close, Vlad.”

The Halfling blinked and looked around. Sirus came around the three and folded his arms across his chest.

“You’re telling me” he huffed. “You’re lucky it was only one of the other slayers that found you, if it was the entire team…” Vlad bit his bottom lip at the implication. There would have been any number of things they’d do to him after finding out he was a vampire.

Of course, Vlad wouldn’t be killed, he knew that. But still, it wasn’t going to be fun. Especially if they tried staking him or cutting off his head.

Vlad took in another deep breath, his lungs stiff burning from his run, and looked around. He wasn’t quite sure where he’d ended up, he’d just picked a random direction and ran.

“You wouldn’t mind helping me find my way back, would you?” Vlad asked, too embarrassed to admit he was completely lost. Sirus sighed and nodded,

Vlad followed close behind as they began walking “sorry if I caused any trouble.” The boy said. Sirus glanced back at him “don’t worry about it, I’ll have an excuse ready when I get back to the base.” Sirus paused, looking around before stepping through the brush. “You’re just a normal, human, kid that stumbled across the other’s but didn’t hear anything important.”

The young Halfling wasn’t exactly sure how well that would go over with the other slayers, considering Vlad probably looked suspicious as hell when he decided to bolt off into the forest.

Sure, Vlad thought he could pull that excuse off with the aid of a little mind control. But Sirus was just human… wasn’t he?

It hadn’t been something Vlad had really considered before. He’d seen the stake and assumed that Sirus was a slayer, one under the control of some vampire, possibly D’Ablo or another member of Stokerton’s council.

But, now that he thought about it, it was possible that Sirus was also a vampire. Just one who didn’t have a mark and kept tabs on the society. Curiously, he licked his lips and spoke “hey Sirus” he began, catching the other’s attention “are you a vampire?”

The man smiled, briefly revealing a set of sharp fangs “you’re starting to catch on, aren’t you?” Vlad blinked, not exactly expecting his suspicion to be right.

“How haven’t they noticed?” the teen asked. Sirus pulled up his sleeves, revealing his unmarked wrists for a moment. “I’ve yet to get my mark, and let’s be frank.” Sirus chuckled “a little bit of mind control can go quite a long way when used properly.”

He wasn’t wrong, Vlad had managed to use mind control to get a chance to talk with Joss for a little bit.

Another thought then passed through “your daughter, Kat, does she know?” Sirus nodded “yes, she knows just about everything and has known for a good three years.”

Vlad shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around the forests. “It feels like all of us are pretending to be something we’re not.” He murmurs “you and me pretend to be human, Kat acts naive and clueless, and the Society…” he trails off.

“Acts like they aren’t attempting genocide.” Sirus said flatly. Vlad felt his stomach twist at the term, he’d never really thought of it that way.

“If you don’t mine me asking, why did you change? What made you decide to side with Elysia and become a vampire?” from Vlad’s own experience, even with Joss alone, he’d seen that slayers viewed vampires as nothing more than monsters. Ones that needed to be eradicated from existence.

Sirus ducked under a low hanging limb before continuing “let’s just say, I managed to have a few conversations with vampires. Strange as that may seem, a slayer who set aside his weapons and willingly spoke with the creatures he was instructed to kill.”

The fledgling vampire took a look around, Vlad followed his gaze. The area still seemed peaceful, no sign of anyone, slayer or vampire. “But I got a bit curious, to say the least, and went looking for vampires. I talked to them, it took time, but I realized that they were people. Actual people who have lives and loved ones. Who think beyond just killing?”

Vlad could attest to vampires honestly being on both ends, though even he didn’t know everything about D’Ablo and the other vampires who’d attempted to end his life.

“I found a society, not so unlike what most of humanity has. Yes, I’m sure you’ve noticed the strict nature of the laws and culture. But it’s not as bad as the society, trust me on this Vlad. I’ve seen my fellow slayers copy and come to hold the exact same ideas and beliefs, never really diverging from what the higher-ups teach us. But vampires, there’s so much in Elysia that I’ve seen and heard about. I’ve hardly scratched the surface, and I’m sure you’re not that far in, but consider the differences you’ve seen amongst the vampires you know.”

Differences… there were a few things Vlad picked up on, things he didn’t learn the first time about D’Ablo and the council. Conversations he never got to have with vampires because they wanted to kill him. But Vlad couldn’t exactly call Elysia ‘diverse’ atleast not yet.

“There are quite a few vampires like yourself, ones who would do whatever it takes to avoid death and violence. And then there are the vampires like D’Ablo, who attack everything that moves.” Vlad actually laughed at that, unsure if Sirus knew the half of it.

Sirus smiled back at the Halfling, but that quickly changed when he said “and they don’t target your loved ones when you asking questions.” Vlad felt his blood run cold “the society killed someone close to you?” the boy asked.

Sirus stopped, coming to stand just as still as the trees around them. “Vladimir, can we both agree to make our best attempts to get Joss away from the society?” Vlad blinked in confusion. It felt like Sirus was trying to change the subject before it crossed into uncomfortable territory.

Vlad nodded “yeah, of course.” He was already planning to do everything he could to convince joss. But it would be nice to have someone else trying, it would atleast improve the odds a little.

Sirus then began walking “let’s go, the longer I’m missing, the more suspicious they might get.” Vlad considered trying to press the vampire further, but he wasn’t sure how far he could push and not make Sirus angry.


	12. Chapter 12

Vlad closed the back door behind him, the small house was filled with another in progress meal. Vlad looked over and saw D’Ablo, once again, in front of the stove. “Are you cooking again?” Vlad asked, D’Ablo glanced over, a smirk on his lips “of course.” The council president said.  
The Halfling had started to notice that D’Ablo seemed to have a thing for cooking. Which no one was really against? Surprisingly, atleast for Vlad, D’Ablo was a pretty good cook. Even Vlad wasn’t about to argue that, mostly because he wasn’t exactly sure how well D’Ablo took criticism and whether or not one of the knives would find their way into his chest. But also because the food was actually really good.   
Though, Vlad was wondering if cooking might be a sort of hobby for D’Ablo. They’d been there for about a week, and D’Ablo had made a meal for everyone atleast four times. And hadn’t complained once, aside from asking someone else to take care of the dishes.   
It was a bit surreal though, to remember all the times that D’Ablo nearly killed him, and now seeing him cooking a meal and having a conversations with Vlad and Otis.   
Vlad knew that weird feeling was because he’d gotten so use to D’Ablo attempting to kill him constantly, and to be in a situation where they were friendly just deviated from what he considered normal. But it still didn’t leave him any less on edge or paranoid.   
The chair scraped across the floor as Vlad pulled it away from the table and sat down. It scraped the floor again as Vlad scooted back in and leaned in, resting his arms on top of the wooden surface. “So, let me guess, your search for vampires came up empty again, didn’t it?”   
D’Ablo turned, a smile on his face “surprisingly, no it didn’t.” he said, whipping his hands on a small towel.   
Vlad looked taken aback by that answer “really?” he asked, a little bit of excitement lacing is voice. “Yes, we found about two dozen or so hiding out in a cave a few miles into the forest.”  
“Did they agree to leave?” D’Ablo gave a short nod “it took quite a bit of arguing and a few threats, but they agreed to leave for New York, after that, I have no clue where they’ll go.” Vlad wasn’t sure he wanted to know what those threats where.  
But it was good to know they had found some vampires. That meant there had to be more. They just needed to look in the right place.   
“So, how did your little talk with the slayer go?” D’Ablo turned his attention back towards a bubbling pot and a pack of pasta noodles. Vlad wagered the vampire was making some sort of pasta dish, minus the garlic of course.   
“It went good and bad.” Vlad admitted, he might as well inform D’Ablo about the incident. Sirus probably would get around to telling one of them anyways. “I didn’t really get to talk to him about vampires and stuff, but I did earn his trust, atleast a little bit anyways.”   
D’Ablo nods “I’m sure that can be helpful when trying to convince someone to change their ways.” The vampire says, not exactly interested. “And the bad part?” he asks, as if suspecting more.  
“I may have been caught listening in on a conversation between a few of the slayers…” Vlad rubs the back of his neck, D’Ablo looks back at him again “well, it seems you are unharmed. They either didn’t think you a threat, or you got away.” Vlad was sure it could be a mix of bot, but he leaned more on the fact that he managed to get away.  
D’Ablo clucked his tongue “though, we should be a bit more careful, that might be considered quite suspicious.” Vlad nodded, considering that as well.   
“Did you manage to overhear anything that may be of use to us?” D’Ablo questioned, “a little.” Vlad rested his chin on his upturned hand “it sounds like the society is having just as a hard a time as us.” The council president nods.  
“That’s good, it means the vampires are keeping hidden.” D’Ablo picked up a large spoon with small holes in it and started stirring the pasta into the boiling water.  
“It also seemed like they might not be feeding off the people in the nearby towns, or atleast not killing them.” Vlad said, recalling Sirus mentioning the low to average death rate. “Yes, it seems so.” D’Ablo sets a timer and walks over to the table. “I was a bit suspicious when I looked through the records and found little in the way of signs that point to a large number of vampires.”   
Vlad pursed his lip “is it possible, for vampires to not feed off people and survive?” D’Ablo shakes his head “not really, possibly survival at the very basically level with blood wine and bagged blood, but in order for a vampire to really thrive, they must hunt and feed off people.” D’Ablo explains.  
His fingertips tap against the wood “and we did notice a few vampires hiding in the cave looked as if they were attempting to do just that. Though, I’d wager they were probably fledglings and still working up the nerve to go out and hunt.”  
Vlad lift his head “what about sparse feeding?” he sudden asks “well, yes that is possible. A vampire could take a pint or two and it not be fatal. It’s possible the area is sprinkled with more than a few drudges who act like living blood bags for the vampires. Many probably aren’t even aware of it, and those that are, probably keep their mouths closed.”   
The teen nods, it made sense. It was just common to kill out of ‘kindnesses, as some liked to claim, rather than attack, feed, and whip the human’s memories.   
“Vladimir” D’Ablo said, the vampire stared at him with steel grey eyes. “Did you ever consider that this ‘friend’ of yours, may still become a slayer?”   
The Halfling wet his lips, of course he had. But he tried to hope for the better, hoping that Joss would listen to reason and walk away while he still could.  
The timer rang out and D’Ablo turned on his heels. Vlad was quite as D’Ablo walked over and lifted the pot off the stove and carried it over to the sink, where one of those mesh bowels with a handle was suspended in the center of the sink. The vampire poured the pots content in, steam rose up quickly before dissipating in the air.   
“Because that is a very real possibility” D’Ablo said as he continued working. “Yeah, but it’s only because of his little sister.” Vlad explains, D’Ablo froze. On hand on the knob of an open cabinet, the other in the process of reaching for the plats.   
“Let me guess” D’Ablo began, a snarl forming on his lips as he began taking the white porcelain disks down and stacking them. “A vampire killed his sister, making the boy believe we’re all evil, blood sucking monsters who murder children, to this kid.” The vampire’s tone didn’t exactly sound like a question, more like what he already knew and expected.   
The young Pravus nodded, “of fucking course.” D’Ablo hisses “face it kid, chances are, that kid isn’t going to change his mind. People bent on revenge don’t just abandon their quest halfway through.” The vampire then began setting the plats on the table, about four of them.  
“You waste your time, if you ask me, it would be better if you let him become a slayer and continue to aid us in searching out the other vampires.” D’Ablo then crossed his arms “a vampire will probably finish that boy off soon enough.” The council president says in a matter of fact tone. As if he could predict the future.  
Vlad clenched his hands into fists “I’m not going to just give up.” The boy spat, D’Ablo regarded him for a moment.  
“Well, there could possibly be another option. Though it wouldn’t exactly assist your friend, it would prevent others from being pulled into the despicable organization...” Vlad blinked, staring at D’Ablo as the vampire turned back towards the counter. “According to you, you are the Pravus, correct?”  
The teen nodded, recalling a short conversation with D’Ablo a few months back. The vampire had more than a few questions for him and still had more, ones that Vlad wasn’t exactly ready to elaborate on just yet.  
“Then we could safely assume that, from your own knowledge of the next few years, that your powers will grow and develop.” The council president glanced around, as if worrying someone would over hear “perhaps, when you do become much stronger, Elysia takes a little initiative.” Metal clanked as D’Ablo pulled silver wear from the drawer.   
“Say, we finally rid the world of the Slayer Society once and for all. Eliminating their influence and allowing Elysia to resume the way it always was, before a certain vampire made a foolish decision.” Vlad wasn’t exactly sure how Elysia operated before the society began hunting vampires, but he wasn’t entirely that was a good idea.   
The society may be murderous and a problem, but it did seem to keep vampires in check. Atleast a little bit, anyways.   
“And if the Pravus were to be at the helm of this operation, think of how appreciative Elysia would be. How willing they would be to accept him, the one to who finally made it safe for vampires, allowed us to move freely once again…”   
Vlad gapped at the vampire, the very idea of killing hundreds of people made him feel ill. “No” “No? Why not?” D’Ablo sounded offended, as if Vlad had just slapped him across the face. “Elysia does not use tactics of torture to educate our young, they do. They take a whip to your friend’s back and call it training. In Elysia, that’s called a punishment.”  
The Halfling slammed his fist down on the table “I’m not an executioner!” he snapped. D’Ablo narrowed his eyes at Vlad “did you forget why we even came here? We came because you told us there were other vampires in risk of being killed. We came to protect our own kind, I only gave you the option to talk to the boy because I knew you’d try to anyways.” D’Ablo pointed at Vlad “I give you a fucking in and you take a mile, deciding the society is something to protect.”  
“I didn’t say that!” Vlad countered “you might as well have, trying to play on the neutral side is the same as playing on the side of the oppressors.” D’Ablo argued. Oppressors? D’Ablo considered vampires, some of the most powerful and influential people on the planet, were oppressed?   
The vampire then took in a deep breath and set the silverware down on the table in a small pile. “Look, Kid” he began “I have lived for over five hundred years, and in that time, I have seen many things. Let me tell you something you’ll learn to accept eventually,” D’Ablo leaned in, bringing his face mere inches from Vlad’s.  
“There have been many like you, humans and vampires who thought they could solve a problem without the use of violence. Who thought showing their aggressors kindness and friendship would magically change people. They hoped that they had a solution that didn’t lead to death, but it rarely, if ever worked.”  
“Count yourself lucky to not have lived through the wars, you wouldn’t have lasted.” D’Ablo shakes his head “millions dead because people didn’t want to use force and violence while the problem was still small…” the vampire backed up “you can show the society all the nice vampires and peaceful vampires you want, they won’t change their minds.”  
“But Sirus did.” Vlad said, then stiffened when D’Ablo looked back at him “Sirus lost his wife because of the slayers, and even then, we don’t fully trust him with Elysia’s secrets.”   
Vlad turned, his gaze falling on his uncle as the blond vampire leaned against the door frame. Blue eyes looked between Vlad in D’Ablo, “ah, Otis, did we wake you?” Vlad noticed his uncle looked tired, like he’d been sleeping when Vlad came back. “Yes, and everything within a ten mile radius.”   
D’Ablo shrugged and turned his attention back to setting the table. “Vladimir and I were merely have a bit of a heated discussion.” Vlad glared at D’Ablo before sighing and looked back at his uncle. “Sorry for waking you Otis.”   
The blond vampire gave the boy a concerned look before nodding “it’s alright Vladimir, after all” Otis’ eyes flicked to D’Ablo “some of use aren’t exactly used to using our inside voices to handle an argument.” The cerulean eyed vampire smirked and then turned to leave the room.  
Vlad wagered his uncle was heading back to bed, which Vlad didn’t blame him for doing. The young Pravus wondered if they’d been much too loud with their shouting, and if they’d woken up all the other vampires as well.   
“Since you’re heading that way, tell the other two that the food’s ready.” D’Ablo called over his shoulder, Otis just made a noise, one that might have meant ‘Okay’ and left Vlad with D’Ablo.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to tell if a vampire has taken up residence in your town: crops are dying, animals have begun to act strange, you can’t shake the constant feeling of dread, abnormally high death toll, and all the supermarkets are suspiciously out of meat all the fucking time.

Otis set the last of the bags of groceries down in the trunk of the smaller rental car. The vampire moved down a list, his pen scratching out their acquired items. “How the hell is every store in the area out of meat?” The blond said absentmindedly.

It had been odd, when they came into town to get supplies that literally every store seemed to be sold out of meat. It didn’t seem normal for a town, which seemed to be even smaller than Bathery, to go through that much meat.

Though Vlad had wondered if it had something to do with the vampires in the area. Though cooked meat made him nauseous, it didn’t mean that other vampire’s didn’t enjoy a steak every now and then.

Another thing Vlad had wondered, while watching D’Ablo approach from the direction of a nearby book store, was how Stokerton’s council president hadn’t collapsed from heat stroke.

The vampire was not only dressed entirely in black, but had on his normal black coat, a pair of slacks, and a black button down shirt, as well as his signature leather gloves. It all honestly struck Vlad as a bit much for weather that was nearing a hundred degrees.

“Do you have everything?” D’Ablo asked, “Pretty much, though it seems more vampires are in the area. All the markets around here are completely out of any type of meat.” Otis said, D’Ablo opens the passenger side door and slips his bags in.

“It seems so, it’s possible we could have some hiding here in town. Perhaps we should go looking around here.” Leaned against the side of the car “it will have to wait, what food we did get will spoil if left out to long.”

D’Ablo sighs “of course, but we should return tomorrow and do a little ‘ _sightseeing_ ’.” D’Ablo said, his fingers making air quotes. “Perhaps we’ll get lucky.”

Vlad glanced past D’Ablo, his eyes fixing on a familiar person. Joss.

The slayer in training was slowly walking towards what Vlad thought to be the town’s funeral home. D’Ablo and Otis took note of the boy’s stare, following his line of sight.

The council president narrowed his eyes and mumbled “of fucking course.” And Otis was silent as his blue eyes fixated on the other teenager. “Follow him, Vladimir, just to be safe.” His uncle said.

“He’s trying to sneak around and I don’t like it.” D’Ablo whispered “I know, but it might look suspicions if one of us goes after a teenaged boy, and Vladimir is trusted by the slayer boy.” that was mostly true, he’d only been talking to Joss for about two weeks or so, but they’d still developed something of a friend ship.

Vlad walked around the car, slowing walking towards the street. His onyx eyes looked around, seeing few people out on the streets.

Quickly, he darted across the pavement towards the funeral home. The young Pravus worried that Joss might be after a vampire, one that didn’t know they were being followed by a potential slayer.

When Vlad rounded the corner leading to the back of the building, he felt his heart slam against his ribs. Another vampire had joss pinned by his neck to the ground. The vampire had his fangs fully extended and his eyes narrowed as he pinned the boy.

Vlad wet his lips and then shouted “Hey!” the vampire’s head shot up, not noticing that Vlad had followed Joss around the building.

Dark brown eyes locked with Vlad’s onyx ones, they had previously shown signs of shock and surprise, now he looked angry again. “Little one, it’s best that you don’t concern yourself with this.” He hissed.

The Halfling then felt a slight push in his mind, one that was urging him to turn back and walk away. To forget what he’d just seen and go about his own business. The young Pravus then clamped down on his thoughts, fighting back against the implanted thoughts.

“Let him go!” Vlad snapped, twisting his wrist just enough to give the vampire a glimpse of his tattoo hoping that would earn him even the slightest bit of trust.

‘Another vampire?’ the man’s voice echoed inside Vlad’s skull. The boy kept himself from nodding ‘yeah’ he calmly responded.

“I’ll go to the police right now, I swear!” It was a complete lie, an empty threat, one that would fool joss. Atleast Vlad hoped so.

The vampire looked back at joss and then at Vlad ‘why are you coming to his aid, this boy is a slayer?’ Vlad swallowed and focused ‘not yet, he hasn’t killed any vampires. I’m trying to convince him to leave, I just need time to do it.’

There was a silence that hung in both the air and in the mental connection between the two. ‘Please, don’t kill him. I know slayers are a threat, but I can solve this.’ It was practically a plea for Joss’ life. Though, the Halfling wondered if it had fallen on deaf ears. Vampires, atleast the ones he knew, didn’t usually show mercy.

Vlad was honestly shocked with the older male stood, his hand releasing Joss’s throat. “Well, I don’t think that would be good for me, now would it?” Vlad watched the vampire grab a coat that had been strewn over a tree stump.

‘Little one, I’m not sure where you get such ideas from, but Slayers do not change. This boy is merely the messenger for now, we’re giving them a warning to leave. If they don’t…’ the man flashed his fangs ‘things are going to get quite messy.’

As the vampire pulled his coat back on, he looked to Joss “remember my warning little one.” He clucks his tongue and turns “if you’re both smart, you’ll stand there for a good three to five minutes after I leave.” Chocolate colored eyes flashed angrily “and do not attempt the follow me.”

When the vampire had left, Vlad immediately rushed over to joss, who had managed to sit up and was trying to catch his breath. Vlad saw the faint beginnings of bruises on his throat, though it didn’t’ look to bad. “Shit, are you alright?” Vlad asked as he knew beside the human.

“Did…did you see it?” Joss coughed out, “it-it had fangs!” the slayer in training pointed off in the direction the vampire had taken off in.

Vlad eased Joss to his feet “I saw a crazy guy in a suit try to choke the life out of you.” Vlad said, wondering if he should attempt a little mind control to convince Joss that what he saw wasn’t a vampire. Though he quickly scrapped that idea, feeling horrible for even considering it.

“Maybe we should get you back inside.” Vlad said carefully, acting like he was examining Joss “this heat might be getting to you.” The boy tugged at Joss’ arm “come on, my uncle can drive you back to your cabin if you need him to.” Vlad said, somewhat sure D’Ablo and Otis could atleast attempt to play nice for a short ride back.

Though, with D’Ablo’s little talk the other night, Vlad wasn’t so sure the council president wouldn’t just abandon the whole idea and begin taking out the slayers one by one. Starting with the youngest and lest trained of the bunch.

Joss pulled his arm away, the slayer in training’s face looked hurt. Vlad was sure he’d been expected to buy into the whole vampire thing and not think Joss was lying or crazy. “I’m fine.” Joss said, angrily.

The boy pushed past Vlad, walking back the way they’d both come. Vlad turned, his words caught in his throat as he tried to figure out what to say next.

 

* * *

 

The young Pravus was awoken by a hand shaking him. At first, Vlad tried to turn over, ignoring the other person. He’d much rather sleep a bit longer than get up now.

That changed when his uncle’s voice reached his ears “Vladimir, get up” Otis whispered, almost like he wasn’t actually trying to get Vlad to actually wake up.

The teen pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes “what is it?” Vlad asked, sounding completely exhausted. The fog of sleep did still hang heavily in his mind at that point and it would probably take a bit longer for him to fully wake up.

“You have a visitor.” Otis said, Vlad blinked, his body feeling a bit on edge. Was it Joss? Sirus? Maybe Kat? Though he wasn’t exactly sure why she would, Sirus did tell Vlad that she knew about Elysia and the Society.

Vlad flung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, he stretched briefly and grabbed a pair of tennis shoes sitting next to his bed. Regardless of how long this conversation might take, Vlad was definitely getting back into bed afterwards and he really didn’t feel like changing.

“Who is it?” he asked, “another vampire, he mentioned speaking with you earlier in town.” Vlad blinked, recalling only one vampire he’d spoken with while they’d been in town earlier that day.

With a huff, Vlad followed his uncle out of the bedroom and down the steps.

The front door stood open, the same man from behind the funeral home stood on the other side. His dark eyes focused on Vlad the moment the young Halfling came into view. Two of D’Ablo’s guards stood there, arms crossed and looking more than a little intimidating.

Vlad wagered they weren’t about to let an unknown vampire into the house with D’Ablo and the other council members.

“Little one, I would like to speak with you.” The vampire said calmly, “I have a few… questions…” the haling was quite for a moment before he nodded.

He wasn’t surprised, he’d come to defend Joss, not exactly something that seemed normal for another vampire to do. “Alright” Vlad said, the Halfling turned to walk into the kitchen. He was sure they’d be a bit more comfortable sitting down, rather than talking back and forth through the open door way.

“Allow me to elaborate, little one, I wish to speak with you alone.” The man said, causing his uncle and the other vampires to look at each other, an uncomfortable feeling passing through them. “Okay…”

Vlad set foot out the door, following the other vampire off the porch and onto the gravel driveway. They walked a few feet, coming to stop beside the parked cars.

“So, what brings you here?” Vlad asked, though it was the middle of the night, the boy was sure the vampire had quite a few things that were better to do than coming to see him. In fact, Vlad was a bit curious as to how he found them.

The other vampire hardly spared Vlad a glance as he spoke “you came to the aid of that slayer boy earlier…”

Vlad nodded “yeah, why?” he asked, he wasn’t at all surprised. When he saw the other vampire, he knew that it probably had something to do with the incident from earlier.

“Do you even realize what that boy and his fellow slayers will do you if he finds out what you really are?” Vlad bit his lip, knowing full well what could happen.

“Yeah, he’ll drive a stake through my heart.” Vlad stated rather simply. The faint ping of phantom pang flared up for a moment, though Vlad didn’t show it. He took in a deep breath and spoke “but that isn’t going to stop me from trying to convince him to step down. To go home and forget about all of this.

The vampire shook his head “little one, they already have him in their web. From the moment they told him the truth, that vampires and the society exist, they had him. It’s rare for someone like him to walk away from the society.” The vampire said.

“What about Sirus?” Vlad asked, he recalled the brief mention of Sirus losing someone, possibly his wife, if Otis knew something. “Sirus had a wakeup call, a big one, and even then…” the vampire crossed his arms “it’s been quite hard for him to adjust properly, to accept what he’d become.”

Vlad grit his teeth “but joss isn’t a slayer, not yet. He’s still in training, he hasn’t even killed a single vampire.” But he would, Vlad knew he would. It’s why Otis and the others had been searching the area for more vampires and trying to convince them to leave.

“You waste your breath, kid, he’s not going to listen to you just because you’re his friend.” The vampire hissed at Vlad “consider yourself lucky that they haven’t taught him how to properly recognize vampires yet.”

Vlad ran his tong over the sharp points of his canines, something about this vampire did strike him as familiar. And he was sure it wasn’t because of the incident in town earlier.

“What’s your name? He asked, that seemed to take the male by surprise. He blinked a few times and then said “it’s Zy” a few more memories flitted through his head, ones of another conversation about Joss’ first kill.

“You need to leave…” Vlad whispered “I’m sorry?” Zy asked, Vlad wasn’t sure if he was confused or if he just hadn’t heard Vlad. “You need to leave, and you need to stay away from Joss.” Vlad said swiftly.

Zy gave the Halfling an odd look “why?” the vampire asked “he’s going to kill you, I remember he told me once before.” Now it seemed like the vampire was confused. He muttered something in a foreign language, possibly Elysian.

“You understand that I know have a reason to go after the boy. He is a threat to my life and all of the vampires hiding in this forest. All of those slayers are.” Vlad’s heart skipped a beat.

“No! That’s how you ended up dying!” Vlad snapped, attempting to sort the memories out “just go, please.” Vlad said “your life and the lives of the other’s aren’t worth the risk.”

The vampire watched the boy intently, as if trying to find a hole in his words. “Little one, do you know something the rest of us don’t?”

Vlad bit into his bottom lip nervously, drawing a little bit of blood. “I know that twenty five vampires will die if we don’t find and evacuate them.” Vlad admitted “that’s why D’Ablo and a few other council members are here, to evacuate the vampires in the area.”

“If we are in danger, then why not fight back. There are plenty of vampires here to take that small group out.” “It’s not worth the risk” Vlad repeated “and more slayers will just come to fill the space, it’s better to leave before they find you.”

Vlad took a step towards Zy “and if you know the location of other vampires, please tell us so that we can get them out safely as well.” The older vampire set his jaw “there’s a cabin deep in the woods, just past the training grounds. There’s normally about two dozen hiding there on a normal day, though some have been moving between a cave and another cabin to control crowding.”

“D’Ablo and Otis said they cleared the cave a few days again.” Vlad said “yes, so I’m beginning to think.” Zy then looked back at the house behind Vlad. “You wouldn’t mind giving us the location?” Vlad asked, just knowing there was a cabin near by didn’t exactly help find it.

“We’ve been taking turns searching the woods for the past week or so and found little aside from the vampires in the cave system.

Zy sighed “perhaps it would be better if I did lead you to it, I’d be able to talk to them as well. Give them the basic run down before you’re friends come in to help.” Vlad nodded, a smile forming on his face “thank you.” The boy said.

The teen then turned, “if you’d like, you can stay for a bit.” Vlad said “it might be helpful if you can give the others a bit of information about your friends. Just so we’re a bit more prepared before we head out into the woods.

Zy stood still for a moment as Vlad started for the front porch, then, the sound of footsteps on gravel doubled as the pair approached the house.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D’Ablo: *runs past carrying a baby mountain lion*  
> Otis: what do you have?!  
> D’Ablo: *runs faster*

Vlad closed the front door behind Zy, the vampire paused for a moment and took the time to glance around.

The Halfling had just started for the kitchen, where he was sure the other vampires were, when his uncle shouted “what do you mean he left three hours again?” Vlad stopped in his tracks, looking at Zy, who didn’t move an inch.

“Otis?” Vlad called out as he walked into the kitchen, his uncle stood there checking a loaded hand gun. Vlad couldn’t help but to notice the angry look on the blond vampire’s face.

“What’s going?” the young Pravus asked, Otis looked up at him “D’Ablo’s missing.” Vlad stiffened as Otis looked to the other two council members. “Apparently, he left about two hours ago without a second vampire to go with him.”

Vlad followed his uncle’s glare “you just let him leave?” Aura smirked “he’s a full grown vampire.” She said smugly “we’re sure he can take care of himself just fine.”

Otis pinched the bridge of his nose “there are slayers in the vicinity, I don’t care what his reasoning was, he should not have gone out alone.” The blond reminded them.

“We should go out looking for him!” Vlad said quickly. “And _we_ will.” Vlad watched his uncle holster the gun “you will be staying here with a few others, just to keep an eye out incase D’Ablo comes back.”

The vampire glanced around “I’ll be taking two of the guards, the rest of you stay put and don’t do anything stupid.” Vlad nodded and watched his uncle move towards the back door. The young Halfling looked at Zy, who seemed to be eyeing Otis carefully.

Otis suddenly paused as Vlad picked up on the sound of the front door opening and then closing. “D’Ablo?” Otis called out, sounding slightly worried, but also threatening.

There wasn’t an answer, Otis looked at his nephew for a moment before moving towards the foyer.

There was another long moment of silence before Otis spoke again “What do you have?!”

“Nothing” D’Ablo’s voice answered and Vlad heard D’Ablo quickly ascending the steps “D’Ablo!” “Absolutely nothing!”

The young Halfling turned and looked at Emily, Stokerton’s vice president was grinning widely as she stood there. “Should we… Do something?” Vlad tentatively asked, pointing up at the shouting that was coming from the second floor.

Aura giggled “oh, do not worry, Otis is able to handle this just fine.”

“NO! Absolutely not!” Vlad flinched when his uncle shouted. “Are you sure?” Vlad asked, his eyes turned up to the ceiling “if the situation is what we think it is, we’d be handling it the same way.” Vlad furrowed his brow and turned, exiting the kitchen and heading for the steps.

He stopped at the bottom when he saw D’Ablo and Otis coming down. The council president looked an odd mixture of pissed off and disappointed. He was also caring something in his arms. A cat? No it was a bit too big to be a common house cat.

“Is that a baby mountain lion?” Vlad asked, his eyes growing wide with slight recognition. “It’s a called a cub, and yes it is.” D’Ablo huffed. “What the hell are you doing with a mountain lion?”

D’Ablo rolled his eyes “what does one normally do with a homeless animal?” Vlad looked taken aback, “oh my god, you were trying to take that home with you!”

The young Halfling turned his head when he heard aura giggling “the boy acts as if he does not really know our dear president, does he?”

Vlad was actually speechless. Yes D’Ablo was, by all accounts, crazy. But to try and take a wild animal home with him, one that was known to be dangerous, that felt a bit out of the ordinary for D’Ablo.

“Yes, well he’s not keeping it.” Otis said, folding his arms across his chest. D’Ablo said nothing, only bothering to glare daggers into Otis.

“It’s probably for the best.” Emily spoke up “those things can get huge, plus they tend to go after small children and animals. If it gets out, I’m sure it’s going to start eating the neighborhood children and dogs.” D’Ablo smirked “well, the neighborhood I live in could use a little peace and quiet sometimes, now couldn’t it?”

Vlad looked between D’Ablo and Otis, still not sure what to say. The small cub struggled in the council president’s arms. It was definitely not pleased to be taken from its family.

“Vladimir,” Otis began, drawing the boy’s attention “I’m going to take D’Ablo back to the animal’s den and return that little one back to its litter.” Otis pointed at the squirming cub “will you be alright here with the others?” Vlad nodded “yeah, I’ll be fine.”

In all honesty, Vlad just planned on going back to bed for a little while and sleep. Otis placed a hand on D’Ablo’s back and pushed him towards the door “come one.” Otis said sternly as he pushed D’Ablo towards the front door.

D’Ablo huffed again and walked after Otis. The front door closed and Vlad was left standing there with the other vampires.

“Is that normal?” Vlad asked, pointing towards the closed door. The two female vampires grinned at him “little one, you really don’t know D’Ablo that well, do you?”

“I guess not” Vlad said, rubbing the back of his neck. Vlad sighed and looked at Zy, the vampire was looking slightly impatient.

Vlad wet his lips “do you think you guys can talk to him? He says he has the location of a cabin were about two dozen vampires are hiding.” Zy nodded, confirming the half breed’s words.

“I see, well, wait with us for a bit and we can all have a nice little conversation.” Emily said with a smile.

Vlad then turned, he planned to atleast get a little more sleep before D’Ablo and Otis got back.

The boy walked towards the steps “wake me up when my uncle and D’Ablo get back.” Until then, he’d be curled up under the covers getting a bit more sleep before he’d be dragged into another search party.

 


	15. Chapter 15

The small kitchen was full of noise as the group prepared for their search. Vlad sat there watching the other vampires check weapons and converse their plan one more time before they planned to head out. Zy stood next to Vlad, he was the only one besides Vlad who was busy with preparation.

After Otis and D’Ablo had returned the night before, they’d gotten everyone up and began discussing a plan of action and a plan to find the cabin in the woods.

D’Ablo had been the first to insist they leave out around day break like normal. He said it would be the best way to insure most, if not all of the vampires would still be at the cabin.

Vlad glanced out the nearby window, the sun was only just beginning to peek over the horizon. The forest was still mostly dark and a bit foreboding. He also knew the slayers would also be doing something similar, atleast he was sure they would.

The young Pravus worried that if they ran into the slayers, it would be a bloody fight. One that Vlad wasn’t sure of the outcome. Sure the vampires were armed and all together, they had about nine people in the group.

But the slayers were also armed and Vlad didn’t know how many were actually there. For all he knew, the slayers could be twice their number.

The Halfling jumped, drawn from his thoughts when something was thrust in front of his face. That something was a holstered gun. Vlad followed the arm up to D’Ablo, who was standing beside him, a displeased look on the vampire’s pale face. “What’s this?”

“A gun, what does it look like?” D’Ablo then set his jaw “take it” Vlad looked from the weapon to D’Ablo “I don’t have any training with one of these.” He admitted.

“And we’ll handle that later” D’Ablo said sternly “for now, just take it and pull the damn trigger on any slayers that attack us.”

Vlad tensed, he still wasn’t exactly keen on the whole idea of killing. “No excuses!” D’Ablo then snapped, as if he were reading Vlad’s thoughts.

“We’re going to be a little too close to the training grounds for my taste.” D’Ablo then looked at Zy “but our ‘friend’ over there seems to think it will be the quickest route to the cabin.”

D’Ablo then turned his steel gaze back to Vlad “and if we run into a patrol, we have to be ready.” Vlad nodded, seeing no way around this, he timidly reached out and took the weapon from D’Ablo.

 

* * *

 

Vlad looked up at his uncle as the group hiked through the forest. Zy was in the lead, D’Ablo following close behind as they walked.

The young Halfling had moved himself to the back, opting to stick close to his uncle just in case things got messy.

Otis made sure to match his nephew’s pace, his face contorted with a look of concern as he looked at Vlad. “Are you alright Vladimir?” the blond vampire asked. “You look a little green around the gills, as some might say.”

Vlad managed a smile “I’m fine Otis.” The boy said, “It’s just…” he hesitated, looking ahead of them at the other vampires “the thought of having to fight and kill anyone… it makes me uncomfortable.” Vlad shifted his gaze to the leave covered ground “I don’t want to kill people, Otis, I just don’t have it in me.”

His uncle frowned, out of the corner of Vlad’s eye, he noticed a look of sympathy in the vampire’s eyes. “I see” Otis then offered the boy a small smile.

“Vladimir, it is not unusual for many young vampire to show an aversion to killing and feeding from the source.” Otis said, “It’s more common with fledglings now than it was when I was turned. But it still happens. It just takes time to move forward from and accept what you are.”

Vlad gave his uncle a questioning look, he wondered what the difference was now over when Otis was still human. “It’s a bit of a silly thing, but humans have started to adopt the idea that everyone has well in them. That it’s wrong to bring harm on ones fellow man and so on.”

Otis waved dismissively, “The ones who do end up turned into vampires have a much harder time adjusting to their Vampiric desires and needs.” The blond sighed.

“Trust me, Vladimir, you will grow out of this eventually. All of us do, it’s in our nature to be predators and we must do certain things to survive.” Vlad felt his heart sink.

“And if I don’t want to become a heartless monster?” Vlad asked, admitting part of the feelings he held about his dad. The same dad he knew would betray every bit of trust Vlad put in him. He didn’t want to become like Tomas, he couldn’t stand the thought of looking at his friends and family as tools and pawns in a game.

Otis frowned, looking a bit betrayed that Vlad could think his own kind were monsters. “You won’t become a monster Vladimir.” Otis whispered carefully, the vampire put his arm around Vlad and stopped.

“I know you well enough to say that you aren’t that kind of person.” Otis moved his hand to sit on top of Vlad’s head, fingers displacing the raven black locks “you are a good person, young and with a lot to learn, but still good.”

Otis smiled “so don’t worry, somethings must be done for your own safety and the safety of others. And sometimes, they aren’t always nice and clean.”

“Otis.” D’Ablo cut in, making the Halfling and vampire turn their attention towards the council president. D’Ablo’s voice had a slightly worried tone to it, like something was off about the world around them,

“Do either of you smell it?” “What?” D’Ablo gestured for them to come closer. As Otis approached, Vlad saw his uncle tense “burning flesh…” Otis said. D’Ablo nodded and looked around.

Vlad felt his stomach twist into a tight knot “are we too late?” D’Ablo’s steel grey eyes moved to scan the top of the forest “I don’t see any sign of smoke, and I should be able to if it’s a particularly large fire. When slayers clean out vampire dens, they normally utilize fire to burn us out.” Vlad saw the vampire tighten his jaw.

Zy then spoke up and we’re still about an hour’s walk from the cabin. And with the way the wind is blowing, I doubt it would carry the smoke this far.”

D’Ablo looked around again, examining the trees “it’s possible one of the others did not manage to get themselves to a proper shelter in time for sunrise.” He said “if so, we should go looking for them.” Emily said.

The other vampires looked at each other and then nodded in agreement. “Can you tell where the smell is coming from?” Vlad asked, he was sure another thing he would need to work on was his tracking abilities at some point.

“From the south.” Vlad wet his lips and looked around at the others. The training grounds were just south of them.

“We should hurry.” D’Ablo said “there’s only so long a vampire can survive exposure to the sun and we don’t know how bad it already is.”

An image flashed in Vlad’s mind, bringing up a memory of D’Ablo. One where the council president tackled Vlad through a large window and out into full sunlight. The image of the council president bursting into flames and laughing madly as his skin and clothing burned away made the Halfling want to vomit.

He honestly hopped that what they find wouldn’t be as bad as that. Or that it wasn’t vampires, just someone who’d forgotten their burgers on a grill or some crazy guy burning animals. Anything other than the sight of charred remains that had once been people.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t long, about thirty or some odd minutes, when they started hearing voices. The smell of burning flesh had also gotten stronger the closer they got.

The voices weren’t exactly shouting, but they were still near enough for Vlad to pick out some choice words. And he didn’t like them one bit.

D’Ablo put his hand up to stop them and then knelt down. Vlad watched the council president move through the brush with cat like ease.

“Shit” the vampire hissed “what do you see?” Otis asked, squatting down to stay hidden. “Kid, I want you to see this.” Vlad blinked in confusion and then got on his hands and knees.

He crawled through in a manner that was a lot less catlike and more like a wild boar. The brush tugged at his clothing and hair and he came to stop beside D’Ablo, the council president was staring dead ahead.

Vlad’s onyx eyes moved from D’Ablo to the scene in the clearing. His eyes widened as it clicked.

The slayers, Joss included, where standing around two burned bodies. No, no they weren’t bodies. Vlad could make out the faint rise and fall of their charred chests.

The young Pravus felt his body start to shake as he realized that the slayers had drug the vampires from whatever hiding place they’d been in and let them burn in the sunlight.

“We need to keep moving.” Otis whispered, Vlad trembled. The teen found himself frozen in place as he watched. A silver flash temporarily blinded him for a moment. Vlad realized that joss had a large hatch in his hand.

“Fuck no” D’Ablo hissed “mercy be fucking damned, this is the last straw.” The council president then moved to stand, only to be grabbed by Otis and clamp a hand over the council president’s mouth.

D’Ablo glared back at Otis “we don’t have that much of an advantage here. It’s after sunrise and all of them art armed. And those vampires are far beyond the point that we could save them. We need to find the ones in the cabin before the slayers do.” The council president reached up and pulled Otis’ hand away “yes… of course…” D’Ablo muttered.

Vlad saw another brief flash from the hatchet as he watched Joss bring it down. The smell of blood quickly mixed with the smell of burnt flesh. As if freed from a spell, Vlad leapt back. The bush shook violent as he did so.

Otis turned and hurried after his nephew, “Vlad” he hissed as the teen came to a stop next to a large oak tree. The boy wrapped his arms around his midsection and vomited.

The blond vampire stopped, blue eyes fixated on the teen. “Vladimir.” The vampire said softly as he walked over, the teen coughed and spit up a little bit more. Vlad’s body was visibly shaking as he tried to straighten up.

Otis reached out, his hands moved to grab Vlad’s shoulders as he examined the boy. Vlad’s eyes were wide and full of terror.

The young Pravus was on the verge of hyperventilating “calm down, its ok Vlad.” Otis said. The boy didn’t show any sign that he understood or heard Otis.

Otis looked up, his eyes darted over to D’Ablo, who was watching the brush carefully. The council president looked at Vlad, a strange look in his eyes as he watched the terrified boy.

Unfortunately, the boy wasn’t exactly priority open for the vampire “we can’t stay here Otis, get the kid to move and lets go.” D’Ablo hissed.

Otis bit his bottom lip and then scooped Vlad up, the young Halfling didn’t argue as Otis followed after the other vampires.


	16. Chapter 16

It had taken nearly thirty minutes for Otis to get Vlad to calm down, which had been on top of the hour it had taken for D’Ablo to be sure they were a safe distance from the slayers. D’Ablo didn’t want to run the risk of being found while Vlad was in the middle of a panic attack.

After that, Otis had sat down with the boy, letting him cry as D’Ablo and the other vampires began discussing their next plan off action. A few, including D’Ablo had suggested sending both Otis and Vlad back to the house and allowing the rest of them to continue to the cabin.

It wasn’t long though, before that idea was shot down. The slayers had already managed to get two vampires with little effort. No one wanted to risk two more, just in case the slayers had taken to searching the woods.

As the group walked, Vlad trailed behind with Otis. His eyes stayed focused on the ground, hardly looking up unless necessary.

The Halfling shook as he attempted to push the memories to the back of his mind. It wasn’t just the recent ones, but the memories of the burned remains on is parent’s bed. Is mother and the other vampire his father had killed to cover his trail. And the guilty feelings that pervaded his thoughts every time he remembered that day, he just wanted to curl up away from everything.

Otis looked at his nephew, a worried expression on his face. It was more than clear to the vampire that Vlad needed more time to recover. But he wasn’t sure why this had sent him so far over the edge.

Zy stopped and turned as they stepped into an open area, Vlad glanced up to see a house that was about the same size as their own in front of them.

“Let me go in and inform them of your arrival first. After that, you can come in and speak with them.” D’Ablo nodded and they watched the vampire approach the house and knock on the door. It opened outward, blocking the view of the person inside.

Zy disappeared through the door way and it slammed shut. D’Ablo then turned his attention to Vlad “Kid, are you calm enough to speak?” Vlad blinked and looked up at D’Ablo.

“I can try…” D’Ablo sighed “well, be ready, they might have questions and you might need to answer some of them.” Vlad wet his lips and shrank back. He wasn’t exactly ready to be dealing with an onslaught of questions. But he ran what he knew through his mind, just to be ready.

It seemed like an hour passed before the door opened again and Zy slipped out. The vampire motioned for the others to approach.

Vlad looked at his uncle as they walked towards the house. The walk was only a few feet and the floor boards of the porch creaked under their feet.

The Halfling watched the three guards walk in first, followed by D’Ablo who maneuvered his way to the front and stood tall.

Vlad peaked around the others, taking stock of the vampires that had gathered inside the room beyond. He could count atleast two dozen, just like Zy and Joss had said. He noticed quite a few were still running the sleep from their eyes as they stood there.

“So, what is it that you’ve come for, Mr. President?” a male vampire with a thick Russian accent spat out the question. It was quite obvious he wasn’t very fond of D’Ablo and his council. Then again, not many vampires were, given their track record.

“We have no criminals hiding here and none of us have broken any laws.” The man continued, D’Ablo put both his hands up and spoke “I’m not here to make arrests, the council is merely here to assist in evacuation.”

The vampires shifted uneasily “evacuation?” a few asked aloud, as if it were a strange and alien word to them. “Yes, the threat posed by the society in the area has grown and we are urging all vampires that we find to relocate for the time being.” The brunet explained.

The other vampires remained quiet for a moment before the Russian spoke up “how do you know their threat has escalated? Were you attacked?”

D’Ablo shook his head and Zy spoke up “on the way up here, we witnessed the murder of two vampires at the hands of the slayers. It seems they might have found one of the out posts.”

“And you didn’t try to save them?” Vlad felt a pang of guilt, he wished they had been able to. That they could have gotten those vampires to safety, just like the others.”

Otis shook his head “they were already horribly burned by sunlight, without a vampire run hospital in the area, it would have been impossible to save them.”

D’Ablo spoke again “understand that leaving is your best chance for survival. We will also be departing with in the week, so this is your last chance.” The vampires looked at each other, Vlad wondered if they were having a telepathic conversation about what they should do.

“And we have no other options?” D’Ablo shrugged “yes, you can stay and die like cattle.” It may have sounded harsh, but Vlad knew that really was the only other option.

 

* * *

 

Vlad sat down on the edge of the porch, his legs dangling off the side as he looked out at his surroundings.

A small grey squirrel skittered past, only stopping long enough to look at the raven haired teen and then hurried up the side of the tree. Vlad watched the animal disappear amongst the green leaves.

Vlad wrapped his arms around himself and leaned forward. He still felt like he was about to throw up, though he doubted there would be much left in his stomach after the first time.

He couldn’t help but to recall the burned bodies of the vampires and the bodies that he’d seen on his parent’s bed. He wished he could just forget them, but there really was no forgetting the look of charred and burned skin and bones or the smell of smoke and death.

The boy didn’t bother to look up when he heard the door open, its old hinges squeaking lightly as it closed again. Vlad could make out the sounds of conversation and raised voices, even with the front door closed. And they had only become louder when the door had been briefly opened.

Vlad turned to look back, expecting his uncle to be there. Instead, it was the vampire Zy. The boy blinked, confused as to what the vampire wanted from him. “I hope you’ve come to understand why Elysia despises the slayers so greatly, little one.”

The young Halfling was speechless as the vampire slowly made his way over and sat down next to Vlad. “I really can’t seem to fathom why you want to save the slayer boy. There can only be so many chances you give to someone before you must say that enough is enough.” Zy shakes his head.

Vlad looked back to the forest “he’s my friend.” The teen said calmly “and it isn’t his fault that he was brought into all of this.” Zy gave him a curious look “a vampire killed his sister when h was younger, Joss just wants to avenge her death.”

“And that validates the countless lives he will take while trying to find the one who killed his sister?” Zy questioned “no…” Vlad whispered “but I want to stop him from even becoming a slayer.”

“Why run the risk?” Zy asked “it’s always better to take care of things like this a head of time. Before he has the chance to continue the societies’ work.” The vampire then stands and shakes his head “and you should be prepared, eventually that ‘friend’ of yours will find out the truth.”

A shadow passed over the man’s face “And when he does, he will try to kill you and you will need to defend yourself. There’s no way out of this, you can only play pretend for so long before the illusion fades.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now for the Chapter who's research looks suspicious as fuck out of context of this fic.

Vlad stood there, Onyx eyes looking up at the black painted windows of the house. He’d thought it strange at first, wondering why anyone would decide to paint the windows like that. But then D’Ablo had explained that some vampires did it to give off the illusion of an empty house.

He guessed it made a bit of sense, but mused that it would only work so long as no one decided to take a peak in the windows.

Vlad glanced over at D’Ablo, who was the only person other than himself who was still at the cabin. The vampire had his arms crossed and was looking up at the house as well.

The sun was begging to set, casting long shadows across the forest and giving everything an eerie feeling. Vlad hadn’t been against D’Ablo’s suggestion to wait a bit longer, just in case more vampires were going to show up at the cabin latter on in the day.

But that had been around noon, when the forest felt less like it harbored something sinister.

So far, they’d yet to see any other vampires and Vlad was sure that they weren’t coming. Primarily because Vlad was sure they’d gotten all the vampires in the area. And the only ones left, according to Boris and the other vampires in the cabin, were a handful staying in the nearby town.

Ones that they said they would get on their way out and that D’Ablo had planned to check for when they left at the end of the week, just to be sure.

“Vladimir” the boy was pulled from his thoughts when D’Ablo spoke his name, breaking the quite of the summer after noon.

The vampire had hardly even looked at Vlad after what they had witness earlier in the day. And Vlad hadn’t exactly wanted to talk to D’Ablo after the vampire had demanded they leave. Vlad had begged for a bit more time, but D’Ablo had reminded him of their little ‘deal’.

D’Ablo and the others had come to evacuate the vampires and nothing more. The council president could care less about the fate of the slayers and Joss. Vlad was even a bit surprised when D’Ablo had ordered Sirus and Kat out as well, just to be on the safe side.

“Yeah, what is?” Vlad asked, his onyx eyes moving to focused on the council president. “Will you be alright? I know you aren’t exactly akin to witnessing violent deaths.” Vlad stared at D’Ablo for a moment.

Was the vampire worried about him? That would certainly be a first, to say the very least. “Yeah, I think so, I just need a bit more time, I guess…”

“Good” D’Ablo said, the vampire reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small box of cigarettes. He pulled one out with his teeth and slipped it back into his pocket, switching it out for a small black lighter.

With a flick, the cigarette was lit and D’Ablo returned the lighter to its place. “Traumatized vampires tend to be a pain in the ass to deal with. But if you’ll be fine, then I see no reason to worry.” Vlad gapped, so much for the idea of D’Ablo showing even the slightest hint of compassion.

“But if you’re not fine…” D’Ablo looked the boy over before taking a long draw from the cigarette. “I’m sure I could be a bit of assistance, after all alcohol does do wonders to numb the pain.” Vlad continued to stair.

“I’m not going to drink away my problems…” the Halfling says, there were quite a few things wrong with that bit of logic. The first of them being that Vlad was nowhere near the legal age to drink. “I think I’ll pass on that, I’m sure there are quite a few better options that drowning my troubles in booze.”

D’Ablo rolls his eyes and breaths out a puff of smoke. The vampire then looks back at the house, a glint of mild curiosity in his eyes “one more thing, Vladimir.” D’Ablo said “yeah?”

“Before we head back, tell me, how did one boy take down twenty some odd vampires on his own?” Vlad pursed his lips and then looked back at the house. “That boy isn’t even trained to hold a stake yet, how the hell did he manage that sort of feat?”

The Halfling reached back in his memories, trying his best to recall what Joss had told him “I think he said he bumped into the gas stove inside and the gas ignited on the lit candles. Apparently the place blew up when he was trying to run away.”

D’Ablo looked as if he obviously didn’t believe Vlad one bit “I highly doubt that, Kid.” The council president said “it takes a lot more than that to blow up a house.”

Vlad just shrugged and said “it’s what he told me and what the records I found confirmed.” The council president looked between Vlad and the house. The young Pravus was sure he could practically see the wheels turning in D’Ablo’s head.

“Well then” D’Ablo began before taking a long inhale from his cigarette, “let’s try a little experiment, shall we?” Vlad watched D’Ablo start for the house, the old boards once again creaking as the vampire stepped onto the porch. “Experiment?” the teen asked.

“Wait right here.” D’Ablo said, the council president swung the door opened and walked inside. “What are you doing?” Vlad questioned. “You’ll see” D’Ablo called out. The young Pravus didn’t like that ‘you’ll see’. It was honestly a bit concerning considering who he was dealing with.

The young Halfling stood there for a good ten minutes, waiting on D’Ablo and hoping a slayer didn’t come across him and decide to attack.

The sound of something heavy and made of metal suddenly scrapping across wood made him jump. “D’Ablo?” Vlad called out, sounding concerned. “Just a minute.” The council president shouted back.

“Did the slayer say is the front door had been left open or closed?” Vlad hesitated before answering, he was wondering why D’Ablo was even asking “I don’t recall, but he did say that he was being chased out by a vampire.”

“I see” the council president said as he stepped out onto the porch. Vlad looked at the open door way and then back to D’Ablo “what did you do?”

The vampire in black grinned “as I said, we’re going to test that little theory of yours.” Vlad blinked “what, what?” it wasn’t even a theory to begin with, just something he’d been told by joss. And here D’Ablo was, about to set a building ablaze to prove a point?

D’Ablo walked back over and pulled Vlad about fifteen feet back from their original position. “D’Ablo, don’t you think it’s a bit too much?” the boy asked, an incredulous look on his face.

The council president smirked “nonsense, I promise you, nothing is going to happen.”

 

* * *

 

The young Pravus worked to pick the sticks and leaves from his raven black hair as he walked beside D’Ablo. The vampire was also working to do the same thing.

Vlad glared up at the brunet, a pissed off look on his face “nothing will happen you said! The cabin won’t explode you said…” Vlad flicked a twig off in the direction of a passing tree “Well you were wrong!”

“Thank you Vladimir, I am well aware” D’Ablo said as he worked to straighten out his hair. “But that house shouldn’t have gone up like that.” D’Ablo said, Vlad huffed “well it did, just like I said it would.” Well technically how joss said it would, but still…

“But the door was wide open and we were only out there for around ten to fifteen minutes before it blew.” D’Ablo looked at Vlad “it doesn’t make any logical sense!” the vampire snapped “I expected a quick flash fire at the most, not something strong enough to send the both of us flying.”

As D’Ablo continued muttering, Vlad tuned him out. Opting to focus on cleaning himself up as best he could before they got back to the cabin.

“Oh good lord, what happened to you both?” Vlad blinked and turned, seeing Otis jogging up the trail. The blond vampire looked more than a little worried at the sight of Vlad and D’Ablo.

Vlad set his jaw and gestured at D’Ablo “he blew up the cabin.” The young Halfling dead panned.

Otis looked from his nephew to Stokerton’s president “no intentionally!” the vampire in black said defensively.

The vampire ran a hand through his blond hair “I was actually just coming up to warn you both about that.” The vampire said “I spoke with open of the vampires, Boris, and he recalled a small stash of explosives in one of the downstairs rooms.”

Vlad gapped “explosives? What the hell did they need explosives for?”

D’Ablo crossed his arms “well, that does explain why the place went up like it did.” The council president then chuckled “I was also considering a meth lab, to be honest… but a small cache of explosives work too.” The vampire in black shrugged.

“What the hell do vampires need explosives for?” Vlad repeated the question. Otis looked to his nephew “they were apparently planning some large scale assault on the compound at the end of summer.”

“Okay…” Vlad looked at his uncle with obvious disbelief “but explosives? Those seem a bit over board, don’t you think?” D’Ablo smirked “there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a job done right.”

“There’s a difference between a job done right and overkill.” D’Ablo just shrugged again and said “there’s no such thing as over kill when it comes to vermin, kid.”

Vlad groaned and then pushed past D’Ablo and Otis “I’m heading back to the cabin to clean up and then I’m going to bed.”

Otis turned, watching the raven haired teen walk down the path. The blond then turned his gaze back to the council president, who chuckled and said “give him time, I’m sure we’ll get through to him eventually.

 

 


	18. End

Joss looked up when the back door of the slayer’s cabin swung closed. His uncle Abraham stood there with a displeased look on his face.

“What is it Abraham?” Patty asked, speaking for both herself and Joss, who was wondering the same thing. Well not exactly. He knew a large part of the reason was that he’d learned about Vlad and his visits.

Something neither Sirus nor joss had informed him about until he’d found out. And to say that Abraham had been angry would be an understatement.

“We’ve been played, it seems.” The slayer said.

Joss and Patty both looked at each other “what do you mean?” Abraham walked over and sat down at the table “I paid our neighbors to the south a little visit after what I found out about your little friend…” Joss sank back in his seat.

“And?” the slayer in training asked timidly “it seems they are packing to leave, and in quite the hurry to do so.” Joss looked surprised, he thought that if Vlad was leaving, he would have told Joss a head of time.

Patty rolled her eyes “I don’t blame them, you saw what happened to that empty cabin a little ways off. They might be worried their own place could be leaking gas and they don’t want to run the risk of staying.” The female slayer took her own seat at the table.

“I would agree with you, Patty, but I fear it’s not as simple as that. I recognized two of the men gathered outside the house.” Joss furrowed his brow “other slayers?”

It was plausible. After all, the society was a big organization and it meant that there were more than enough slayers all over the place. But if so, wouldn’t that mean that they’d offer to help with the vampires?

Abraham shook his head and said “no, Vampires…” Joss felt his blood run cold “I have faced one of them before, I’m sure.” Joss watched his uncle reach up and trace the crescent shaped scar on his face.

“And the other?” the teen ager asked “D’Ablo” Abraham hissed the name, Joss notice patty look a bit uncomfortable “who’s he?” Joss asked. Honestly, he was curious. D’Ablo wasn’t exactly a name that screamed ‘Mr. nice guy’.

“Some big shot in Elysia. From what we know, he’s a pretty important guy and someone most vampire’s don’t risk crossing.” Patty answered “and he lives up to his reputation, we’ve sent slayers after him in the past, none have come back.”

Joss swallowed “and we know they got far enough to face him, because he calls and taunts us from the phones of fallen slayers.”

The slayer in training wet his lips “and did you see Vlad?” Abraham nodded “it seems your friend has been staying with them, and he seemed fairly familiar with all them, including D’Ablo.” Joss looked horrified.

His mind race, considering how much danger Vlad was probably in. what his cousin would say if Joss just left Vlad to die at the hands of vampires. “We have to go save him!” Joss stood, his chair scrapping against the wooden floor.

“Sit down!” Abraham commanded “but-” “Joss” the boy sank back into his chair “we can’t go running off into a battle that we know nothing about.” Patty said “and on top of that, we’re still missing Sirus.”

Right… Sirus and Kat were both missing. On the same day that the cabin had exploded, they’d vanished into thin air, leaving behind little in terms of finding them.

Sirus had joined them in heading out to the destroyed cabin after the slayers had heard the explosion. At some point in the hike, Sirus had vanished and so had Kat why they returned. When they’d tried investigating the cabin, it was like they’d both just walked off, leaving everything.

A search of the nearby woods had turned up nothing. No bodies, no evidence of a struggle, nothing.

“And atleast one of these vampires is known to be particularly vicious.” Abraham said.

Joss looked at his uncle, if this vampire was that bad, then it was all the more reason for them to go after Vlad and get him away from the vampires.

“It’s best if we just leave it for now, we don’t have the man power to take on a group of vampires like this and they’re probably aware of our presence in the area.” Joss shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t believe his uncle just wanted to leave someone at the mercy of vampires

“But…” Abraham began “it might be useful if you could end up talking to the boy and getting information out of him.” Joss tilted his head to the side “how? I thought you said they were leaving?” Abraham clucked his tongue “to go home to Bathery, I’m sure.”

Abraham glanced a patty “and I’m sure Mike and Matilda would love a visit from their nephew, wouldn’t you?” Joss stared “you want me to go to Bathery and spy on Vlad and those vampires?” Abraham nodded “mostly on the boy, I doubt you’ll be able to get close to any of the vampires and make it out alive.”

Joss bit his bottom lip “when am I going back?” he asked. “At the end of summer, you should have enough training by then to handle this on your own. Though I’ll try to get myself moved to Stokerton for a bit, to help keep an eye on you.”

“How long will I be staying in Bathery?” “For the duration of the school year and maybe the summer, depending on what happens.”

Joss sighed deeply, he knew it would be nice to see Henry and Greg again. And spending the school year away from home wouldn’t be so bad.

But there was also the feeling of dread. One that made him fear the possibility that he might not get to Bathery before the vampires decided Vlad was no longer worth their time.


End file.
